With Jane as My Shepard
by Bronzedamazon
Summary: After finding Jane in the year 2013, we've assimilated a new crew from our time that is forced to face the world that is Mass Effect with those that have already lived the tale. A continuation of "Welcome to Earth, 2013" featuring the same rag tag team of beloved characters that you have come to know through the previous trials and tribulations in the first story.
1. Demons, Lovers, and Friends

**Chapter 1: Demons, Lovers, and Friends**

When most people breathe in the scent of leather it provokes memories of an old jacket or the first time that they sat in their brand new car. For me, the scent is synonymous with my father's leather bound college books. He read to me every night before bed. He was the reason that the majority of Robert Frost's works have been committed to my memory. One poem in particular resonated through me from the moment that I decided to step foot on the Normandy and cruise into the endless black abyss with Jane Shepard, The Road Not Taken. It's not that this piece doesn't carry weight with so many aspects of my life, but this particular scenario just seems to make those words feel like daggers that are being plunged into the very center of me. When I boarded the Normandy, I took the more treacherous path, dragging the people that I loved along with me.

* * *

"Amber…" I heard Dylan's voice cooing to me as the bed shifted from him sitting down near my knees. I'd built this blanket fort to keep the outside world at bay and at that moment it included him. While I had been plagued with being homesick, he had opted to attend his daily duties on the Normandy. My fort remained the one safe place away from everyone that stared at me like I didn't belong and not even Dylan be allowed to breach it.

"Dylan…" I responded back to him as I secured the blanket around me. This game of getting Amber to see the doctor had become a daily occurrence. Part of becoming integrated as a Normandy crew member meant Dr. Chakwas gave you a physical and entered your information into the ship's system. I no longer desired to be on the ship, let alone be part of a system.

Dylan came in after his daily shift in engineering and found me still in bed. He had found his niche on the ship, just like the rest of the 2013'ers. The fact that he fit in so well gave me hope that maybe I didn't screw the entire situation up. Or maybe…

"You have to get out of this bed." He gently rested his hand on my side, making me turn away from him while hoarding the blanket a little more.

"I don't _have_ to do anything. The last time you _made _me do something, Lucas saw me naked… You know what it's like to have the blonde demon stare at you in shock before pointing and laughing?" I snapped at him as I relived that moment in my head.

_After about three days in my cocoon of safety that I had made in my bunk, Dylan had started goading me about taking my first shower on the Normandy. It's not like I didn't like taking showers or being a clean person, but I was still reeling in self-loathing and didn't feel like getting up. Not even ten minutes into our little argument, I was hoisted over his shoulder while kicking and screaming and tossed underneath an ice cold stream of water. The liquid death drenched my grey scrubs that I had stolen from Casey Hudson's place three days earlier. Facing my defeat by Dylan, I turned on the hot water and did what any normal person would have done, I took a shower. _

_The moment that I turned the water off I had felt a million times better than what I had when the altercation with Dylan started. He had been right, taking a shower was a good way to make me feel like my bubbly blonde self. That's when it all horribly backfired. I reached for the navy blue towel that he had left for me to dry off with when my eyes met his. Lucas, there he was with his big mouth hanging open as he scanned every inch of my naked body. I tried to cover my more sensitive areas as I turned bright red almost instantly. _

"I've already say that I should have taken you to the women's side. I apologized for that, hon." Dylan shook his head as his voice snapped me back to this horrible reality. He had frustrated me to the point were keeping my face hidden was no longer something that mattered.

"Your apologies don't make him unsee me naked! Lucas has seen my entire body twice in the past two weeks and you haven't seen me naked once in the past two months. You're losing to the king of the morons and don't even seem to care about it!" Being focused on conveying my point to Dylan, I'd not realized my green eyes were looking directly into his blue ones. "You have any idea what it's like to have him see me dripping wet without even a towel covering me?"

"You've made it pretty clear that it was a horrible experience." He grabbed the edge of the blanket and started to pull it away from me.

"Horrible doesn't even begin to describe it!" I barked at him over Lucas as I realized that the blanket crept away from me inch by inch. He was still going to try and get me up. "You aren't getting me out of this bed, Owens. There is no way in hell that I'm letting that happen. Go back to your hole in engineering and leave me be." Now he would know that I meant business. Calling one another by our last names was something that was reserved for when we were being serious. I always called him: my Dylan, Dyl, my Dyllie, but never Owens unless I was royally cheesed off. If he pushed this with me, I was going to do everything in my power to make him suffer.

"Yes I am, Boeshanz." My own last name drawled from his mouth like molasses. "I promised Jane I would get you to medical bay so that we could integrate you into the systems. It has to be done before we jump." So that's what this was all about. The Normandy needed to make a time jump and I still needed to have my information in place before it happened.

We were still floating in space in the year 2013, far from the reapers, Cerberus, and TIM that were all over a century ahead of us. As things sat now, Jane Shepard had no war to fight or galaxy to protect until we managed to get back to 2189. I personally didn't pay much heed to Dylan's theory about time being a pretzel that he preached non-stop for the past two days. The thing on my mind dealt with the fact I agreed to leave everything behind for something unknown.

"Why does it matter?" I sit up and look at the blanket that was now down by my knees, "I can just be added afterward and nothing will happen. Your pretzel theory is nothing but a load of crap."

"They don't know what's going to happen when we jump and having us all in the system would keep things from getting more jumbled if I'm right. Now get up!" Just like that, the blanket that had served as my own little barrier was ripped away from me.

"I don't want to do this!" I yell at him as he grabs my arm to start coaxing me back up. I never fought with Dylan about trivial things before, but this time the nagging idea I had condemned them all to a reaper filled hell pushed me over the edge. The path that I chose filled me with a fear that I wasn't able to put into words. Seeing Chakwas made things official and ended the fact that Amber Boeshanz was a normal southern girl from Texas. It made me part of a future full of uncertainty and doubt.

"It's really not that bad, Amber." Dylan grunts as he uses his body weight to pull me out of bed and onto my feet. "It's just a medical work up, and they put your name in the computer. That's all there was to it for me." The more that I sat there fighting with him the more determined he was becoming. This time he wasn't going to let me win, just like the stupid shower debacle.

"Not that bad for you. Let's think about all the times you've been shot in the chest by an idiot… or had your biotics make you feel like you were being torn apart from the inside out… Hmm.. Is your number higher than mine?" I ran my hands down the front of the atrocious looking Alliance jumper I had been forced to wear when my scrubs were drenched from my ice bath.

"Things happen and you move on. You've blown off seeing her since the day we stepped foot on this ship. It's happening today whether you want it to or not." Dylan grabbed my hand and interlocked his fingers around mine as he pulled me a little towards the door.

"Because there is nothing that she can do that's going to make me feel any better about getting you all stuck here!" I bellowed at him, "It's bugging the hell out of me and there is nothing I can do to get any of you home." Finally I let the words pour from me. I had gotten them all into this mess and there was nothing I could do about any of it.

"Is that what all the moping is about?" I watched as he raised his other hand to my cheek. I couldn't look at him anymore, the disgust with myself making me feel more and more ashamed with each passing moment.

"I made a reckless decision that cost you all so much, how can you even stand to be near me?"

"Every single one of us_ willingly _came with you, Amber. Amiee, Adam, me… we all knew the risk that we were taking in leaving everything behind. This is all so worth it." My eyes met his as a smile came across his face, "So stop worrying about _making_ us go on some adventure with you. It was still our choice to go down this path." He drops his left hand and starts to tug on me again to make me follow him.

"After that confession, you're still going to make me go in there? Maybe you're forgetting who else likes to hover around that place like a damn gnat." I started to sluggishly walk with Dylan, taking my time to make it anywhere near the Canadian bastard that had seen me naked again.

"He's not even in there right now, Chakwas sent him down to the cargo bay with Wrex, so you have nothing to worry about. You will be the only one in there with Chakwas during your work up." At least there was something to be thankful for. Even though I had been on the ship with the rest of the 2013'ers for the past week, I was the only one that seemed to avoid the rest of the ship's crew. At night, Dylan would come in and tell me stories about getting to know the characters that we had spent so much time with during our game play, but I still wouldn't leave my bed for one reason or another.

"Good." I say flatly as I watch the green light on the door flash from his touch. "Stupid, fancy, high tech doors." I muttered as I watched the thing fly open.

That had to be one of the worst things about not being registered into the system like the rest of the crew. Everything you were permitted to aboard the Normandy was based on whatever Chakwas did to you when she synced you to the ship. I guess part of her "assimilation" process was getting the high tech whatsits to register to your biometrics and make it possible for you to interact with just about anything. I had learned this when I pushed the green button on the door and walked face first into the hunk of metal that hadn't moved

"Ms. Boeshanz, I'm so glad that you decided to grace me with your presence." Dr. Karin Chakwas spun her chair around slowly to face me. It reminded me of something that you would see on a Saturday morning cartoon when the super hero comes face to face with the villain for the first time. It was odd letting my eyes focus on the doctor who was really standing in front of me. I had seen the doctor a dozen times when I had played as Shepard but this was a foreign concept. I could interact with her and say whatever was on my mind rather than make a decision based on the little dial thing on the bottom of my screen.

"Dr. Chakwas." I watched her fingers dance across the data pad in her lap as I tried to let the personification from the game slip away from me. "Your reputation precedes you."

"I can say the same for you." I frown at that, knowing that if Lucas had been gabbing about me like a school girl he didn't say anything that would boost my standing with the crew. She sets the data pad back on her desk and brushes her gloved fingers through her grey and white hair "You've managed to avoid me for over a week. I don't believe that even great Commander Shepard has even been able to accomplish that during all the time that we've served together."

"I was sleepy. I guess a gunshot to the chest can take a lot out of you." I run my fingers through my blonde bangs and realize that it's about time that I took another shower. "It's not like I meant anything personal by it, I just didn't want to bother you when I knew that I needed time to heal."

"If you wouldn't have avoided me in the first place I would have ensured that you had healed properly." I watch as she stands up in front of me and motions to one of the beds, "Not that it matters currently, I'll address all physical issues you might have while I do the rest of the procedures." I look at Dylan who makes a little shooing motion at me.

"Damn it Dylan." I whisper faintly as I take a seat on this surgical steel slab on wheels, "Okay, so now what? You knock me out and I wake up fully loaded like the rest of them?"

"Clearly you aren't thrilled about the prospect of the things that I will do to you. Rest assured, these things I do are for your own wellbeing. There is one thing that you and I will need to discuss in regards to the biotic dampener that's been placed at the base of your skull." I watch as Dylan nods his head at me and heads back out the door. This was the conversation I had been avoiding for the past week. I was abnormal and had some piece of tin at the base of my brain that I was sure needed to be tinkered with. Let's face it; it's enough to make you feel sick.

"It seems like you already know all the interesting stuff about me, Doc."

"Your friend Lucas is quite vocal about what he had managed to accomplish with pieces of our technology. Had we known that you would have been accompanying us I would have done the procedure then." Of course he would've been bragging about me as a medical marvel that he had a hand in. I was probably Earth's first biotic and he would be looking to attach his name to that in any way possible.

"I'm guessing something about technology falling into the wrong hands applies here?" It was the only reason I could think of that all the information on the Normandy hadn't been given to Hudson's team. At least they had been smart about something during the whole ordeal.

"Indeed. Now, about your biotic abilities…" I watch as she starts to scan me with her orange omni-tool. It was weird watching her use the same thing to test me that Dylan had been poking at every night since he was given the damn thing. I shrugged, guessing that once I was integrated I would learn to use the thing for one reason or another.

"It's not like they're worth anything. The blue glow freaks me out and makes me feel like my soul is on fire." I roll my eyes, "I don't think they're strong enough to make me a biotic that's worth a damn."

"You do seem have some incredibly strong nodes along the base of your spine. How long have you been dealing with these flare ups caused by your uninhibited biotics?"

"A few weeks, since I found Shepard."

"Well, it's apparent that you've always had the biotic nodes. It just appears that you are a late bloomer when it comes to your abilities." I stare at her for a moment as she pauses to thumb through some information on her omni-tool, "An LX7 implant should work well based on your current physiology."

"A what? No, no… That's the experimental one that Jack was given towards the end of everything. There is no way in hell you're giving me something that strong when I don't know how to use this… this nightmare." I hold both my hands out and shake them, "I'll kill myself with them, or even better yet I'll kill someone on the team with them."

"I only have the one model on board at this point in time. It was put in as a last minute requisition order before we fought the last battle with the reapers. I was going to make an attempt to give the amp to Commander Shepard, although she seems partial to her LX5."

"Are you even listening to me, Doc? I'm going to kill myself! I'm not trained like Jack, or Jane!" I open and close my hands a few times as I try to understand what's getting ready to happen to me, "This is so stupid. It's like you want me to do some damage or something."

"It will be fine, Ms. Boeshanz. I will complete the upgrade and ensure that you get the biotic training needed. You're forgetting that you have some of the finest biotic beings that the galaxy has to offer on board the Normandy. With training you could become quite an asset."

"Or a ticking time bomb waiting to get us all blown to kingdom come."

"You seem to encompass the same negative attitude as your counterpart, Lucas. He's seems to have had the same reaction as you when it came to allowing you to use your biotics." I was almost snarling as I took in what she had just said. Lucas had been in here bad mouthing me to the doctor while I had been slumbering away in my bunk.

"Did he now?" I ask as she pulls a tray of medical instruments over towards me. I tried not to pay too much attention to them as the glistened in the lighting, but the especially sharp and pointy one almost seemed to laugh at me.

"It seems as though he can't quite keep your name out of his mouth for some reason. The entire crew is aware of who you are in some capacity due in a large part, to him." Lucas had never been able to keep his mouth shut when it came to anything that was personal to me. It was part of the reason that him and I seemed to have so much hatred for one another.

"I'll have to thank him for that somehow." I glance at Chakwas as she gives a curt smile at me.

"Now, I'm going to begin getting you into the system and run some basic diagnostics. The sedative…" I couldn't even make out her last words as a felt myself slump over on the medical gurney.

* * *

Clicking? Is that what that noise was? No, this sound was more familiar than some random clicking. It was snapping. Who the hell is snapping at me and why is everything bright white in one eye?

"Hey redneck, you can get all the beauty sleep you want but you aren't going to look any better to me than when I saw you in the shower a few days ago." Lucas started to chuckle as he clicks off the pen light and stops snapping his fingers over my face. It took me a minute to understand just what I was looking at as my eyes focused on the idiot that was struggling to wake me from my slumber. I was still lying on my back in the med-bay, on what appeared to be the same gurney that I had passed out on.

"Lucas… Oh god, why am I waking up to the damn devil?" Being that I wasn't even fully conscious yet, the possibility of this being another one of my nightmares featuring him came to my mind. I ball my fist at my side as he continues to laugh above me.

"Don't worry, there's no love lost here for me either." With my brain still switched to sleep, everything that happened next could be blamed on what could only be described as my autopilot function.

My hand was a fury of pain that was intent on sending Lucas to whatever level of hell he had crawled out of. It smashed the bridge of his nose sending him back and away from me while I screamed like a banshee. Wide awake and full of adrenaline, I practically jumped out of bed and onto my feet, landing a mere yard in front of Lucas. I took a few steps over to the demon, who was leaning against one of the medical counters on the opposite side of the room.

"That's for pointing and laughing when you saw me naked, you asshole." I unclenched my fist as a watched him cover his face. I knew that I had broken his nose as soon as my fist had made the connection with his stupid Eskimo face. "So much for you having a pretty face, jerk."

"When did you learn to hit so hard?" His voice was nasally as he tried to regain his composure without me seeing the actual amount of carnage his face had taken. I smirked as I watched a few drops of blood start to coat his fingers and drip onto the floor.

"Did you forget that I have Adam for a brother? Punching someone in the face is a daily occurrence in our house." I gently rolled my neck to check for signs of tightness from where the implant would now be. Everything felt better than fine for me having to undergo some kind of surgery that required me to be knocked unconscious. I reached for the back of my neck and noticed that there was still a small bandage over where the actual procedure had taken place. "Hopefully that's the last time anything back here is messed with."

"I still can't believe that you're a biotic… I mean, you have a hard enough punch as it is and we just added to your arsenal." Lucas sounded muffled as he covered his face with the white cloth that he had found to control his still bleeding face. I ignored him as I continued to give myself my own personal little examination. "This is going to be great…" He said with renewed sarcasm, "Screw worrying about the reapers, we just created the ultimate super villain by giving this country bumpkin a damn experimental amplifier."

"Did we do the time skip thing while I was knocked out?"

"We jumped a few hours ago, babe." I had never been so thankful to hear Dylan's voice than I was in that moment. It felt like it had been eons since I last felt his skin beneath my hands or seen his blue eyes looking at me. I managed to get my arms around his waist before another word was spoken from anyone in the room and pulled myself against him. "Glad to see you too." He kissed the top of my head as I rested my cheek against his chest.

"This is just great. First I get punched in the face by a screaming banshee and get to bleed all over the place… and now I get to feel sick from watching the two of you do... all of that." Lucas groaned while he was still leaning on the counter. "Can this day get any better?"

"You know she can't stand you, that just being anywhere near her makes her violent, and you wanted to be the one that woke her up. If you ask me, you got what was coming to you." Dylan ran his hand over my shoulder as he leered at Lucas.

"So the whole time skip thing is over?" I didn't even lift my head off his chest as I spoke, just enjoying the feeling of being so close to him again.

"In a manner of speaking… yes." That wasn't the answer that I had been hoping to hear. When Dylan had spoken to me about the whole idea of going forward in time, he oozed confidence. This answer seemed lackluster in comparison, causing me pull away from him.

"Okay, when are we?" I asked flatly as my eyes met his, "You seemed to think that it would all work without an issue. Did something unexpected happen?"

"They messed it up because Dylan here thought he knew better than Liara." Lucas interjected quickly, "I guess we decided to trust the engineer from 2013 over the dozen educated minds from the future for some reason." Dylan glared at Lucas as he finished his sentence.

"I didn't calculate for spatial…"

"Please!" I scream to interrupt the two of them, "Lay off the sci-fi speak. I really don't care about the details on why whatever happened, happened. When are we?"

"2183…" Lucas says in a matter of fact fashion, "The beginning of the Mass Effect series, not 2186 like where we were supposed to be."

"We missed it by three years? I think that's damn impressive babe." I smile at Dylan as he frowns at me. "It can't be that bad, I mean we were taking a shot in the dark of this even having a chance to work." Both sets of eyes were on me as my optimism was met with dismay, "Am I missing some big part of all of this?"

"Remember the whole time being a pretzel thing I told you about?" I nod my head in understanding as I try to remember gist of what he had told me a dozen times over.

"Yeah, something about backwards and forwards adding up to make one destiny that blah, blah, blah…" I wave my hand nonchalantly, "What about it?"

"All the events that we knew based on the Mass Effect games haven't even happened yet. That means that the people on this ship have the ability to do things differently than they would have the first time. There is a possibility that the entire timescale can be slid around or of some of the major events not even occurring."

"Do things differently? What in the blue blazes are you talking about?" I fold my arms across my stomach as I wait to hear what sounded like good news to me. I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it seemed like something was being lost on me.

"Like we already know that the genophage is going to be cured. We already know about Cerberus and how TIM is going to use indoctrination against us towards the end. We are aware of what happens on Virmire."

"You might be aware of what happened on Virmire, but I never played that part. I didn't make it past Noveria when it comes to the ME1." My arms drop as I shrug my shoulders, "I hated the part with the buggies and never made it past killing Liara's mother."

"I thought Adam bought you the trilogy?" Dylan asks me as I look from Lucas to him.

"He did but…"

"Figures she would be the slacker of the group." Lucas pulls away the cloth looking thing he was using to soak up the blood away from his face. "Leave it to Amber to make things even worse."

"Shut your mouth, Lucas!" I bark at him as I try to understand just what all of this meant for Jane and fulfilling her destiny when it came to the reapers. "So we're going to have to go through all of it? Every single mission and all the recruitment? What happens if we change something? Will the universe implode or the reapers come early?"

"It's all a huge unknown. There are so many things that can be impacted by the smallest change and there is no way for us to know if this is all supposed to happen or not." Dylan looks to Lucas, "Us being here is already a huge difference."

"Well it's too late to worry about that now. So, where are we headed?" I ask the two of them with a quiver in my voice, "I don't even remember where we are supposed to start all of this."

"You idiot redneck, we have to go to Eden Prime. Remember the whole beacon thing?" At that moment I wanted to punch him in his smug albino looking face again. It wasn't my fault that I had to dedicate my time to school while he played video games in his underwear all day.

"Wait? Eden Prime?" I pause for a moment as I think about an experiment that would show us if time was really a pretzel, "We can pick up Javik when we get there and get that part out of the way! Think about having the prothean guy with us the entire way in comparison to waiting till the end!"

"Maybe, but there are other things that we need to talk about first." Dylan puts his hand on my shoulder as I stop bouncing up and down. I couldn't help my fascination with the guy, he had always been one of my favorite characters in Mass Effect 3.

"But Dylan, think about all the times he could threaten to throw things out of the airlock! Oh! Just wait till he meets Lucas, it's like a guaranteed execution of the blonde headed demon!" I couldn't stop thinking about all the things that I we could do differently now that we had the knowledge of how everything was going to play out.

"Amber, there's something else we need to talk to you about." Dylan's voice was colder than I was used to, making my foolish dreams come to a halt as my eyes met his again.

"This is going to be great. You can't talk sense into that woman and now she's hell bent on making the universe a chaotic nightmare for the rest of us." Lucas rolls his eyes as he takes a look at his face in a mirror that he found on the counter behind him. "Just look what she did to my face, and we hadn't even really pissed her off yet." Dylan ignores Lucas as he spins me to face him.

"You know how I made a big deal about getting your name into the data base before we jumped? Well my theory on the Normandy linking to the extranet was correct, all of our information was placed in the databases without a hitch." I smile as I think about how smart he was when it came to all of this.

"Well good? I think? I mean you said "without a hitch"… so, what's the problem?"

"Amber, I don't know how to tell you this but…" Dylan was stopped before he could tell me just what he was talking about by the med-bay doors opening. There was Jane, looking better rested than I could remember seeing her since she had found me on Earth.

"Don't tell her." Her voice was tense and it set me on edge right away. I had missed something important on our data getting uploaded with the extranet and I wasn't supposed to know about my own past from the looks of things. If Jane was keeping this from me it wasn't good for anyone.

"Jane, you know that you're going to have to tell me eventually anyway." I say with a smile. I pull away from Dylan and try to get closer to her to see just how hostile she truly was about everything. "It's not like I can't take whatever it is, or did you forget about your little prank that you pulled the last few hours that we were on Earth?" Her eyes lit up as she gave me a genuine smile.

"It's just not the time. You have more important things to worry about right now anyway." She crossed her arms as the peered down at me.

"Like what?" I asked her as I mimicked her stance, crossing my arms over my chest and giving her a coy smile.

"You're biotic training with Wrex starts in the next hour. He's expecting you."

**_A/N Hola hola! I hope that you are ready for a story that will be a little canon and a little crazy! Thanks to my biggest supporters and friends for letting me use you as the basis for some of the characters that are in this fiction! Love you all! _**


	2. An Adam a Day

**Chapter 2: An Adam a Day...**

Everyone has a way of dealing with their emotional baggage that they gather every day. Some people accomplish their chores, some people vent to a person they trust, and some just bottle it up to make it go away. I've always been a runner. Every morning I climb out of bed, tie my shoes, and hit the pavement for a five mile jog to clear my mind of everything that was tacked onto me the day before. It's always freed me of my emotional chains, like everything falling off my shoulder with every thud of my foot against the ground. Now it's been over a week since I've let myself reset my emotional clock, and people on the Normandy were starting to push me over the edge.

* * *

"Did you say that I have training with Wrex? As in the big, red, scary krogan that gets enjoyment from killing things, Wrex? Please tell me you're kidding." I pressed my fingers to my temples as I closed my eyes. I needed to learn how to control my biotics but I didn't expect to be served to the krogan as an appetizer. "He's going to eat me, not teach me! Isn't there someone else? Liara maybe?"

"Don't tell me you're that scared of the big lummox, Amber. He seems to like me just fine." Lucas dropped the blood covered cloth on the counter behind him. "Or are you just afraid resisting him when he gets his hands on the pretty little frame of yours?"

"Didn't I already punch you in your face once today, Lucas? Do you really feel like adding to that?" I rubbed my knuckles that still ached as Jane snapped her fingers a few times to bring my attention back to her.

"I can't have you on the ground team without training. Liara is busy seeing if she can excavate Javik, so that leaves one other available biotic on board, Wrex. It's time to wake up and smell the krogan." Maybe this was her way of punishing me for being AFK for the past week.

"Wait, did you just tell me that you want me planet side?" I paced the floor, letting the words sink in. "There's no way that I'm going with you to Eden Prime. There's just no way." I looked to Dylan, "Tell me she didn't talk you into this too."

"While you were busy, I've spent some time training with Adam." He tiptoed around the obvious. While everyone else worked their butts off I moped, slept, and wallowed in self-pity. This mean the only one not ready for combat against the geth was me. I shook my head.

"Regardless of whatever training that you think y'all have accomplished, I'm not going down there to get shot at by a bunch of flashlight heads carrying lasers, especially if you're taking Adam. Count me out." Jane cleared her throat. "Shep... Please tell me aren't serious. I'm a college student, not a soldier."

"I'm serious." She raised an eyebrow and combed her fingers through her vibrant red hair. "Nothing has been the same since the time skip. I need my entire team ready, which means you."

"Let's be logical about this. That planet is swarming with killer robots that stick people on metal spikes that launch out of the ground. If I go down there, I'm going to wind up a human shish cabob."

"If you didn't avoid everyone for the past week, maybe you would feel a little more prepared for this." Jane pointed her finger at my chest. That felt great.

"I don't have armor, or a gun." I tried to throw that issue out to her; maybe I'd get lucky and get stuck on the ship regardless of what she wanted.

"Getting you in armor won't be an issue, and Adam told me you're a hell of a shot with a rifle." I scowled. Of course my brother opened his mouth about teaching me how to shoot a gun. Not like Adam valued protecting the life of his sister or anything.

"Old rusty cans don't have lasers pointed back at me while I aim."

Jane positioned herself directly in front of me. "Look Amber, neither Alenko nor Nihlus are on the Normandy. Events on this timeline are different and I'm not taking the chance of leaving you here on the ship when you might be useful on the mission. You're going, that's the end of this." Before I got another word out she slipped through the doors of med-bay. So much for getting out of that.

"Damn it!" I stomped my foot to break the awkward tension that settled in the room, "I'm not in the mood to get my ass shot again!"

"Technically, you were shot in your boob." Lucas snickered.

"Are you really dense enough to talk about my girlfriend's boobs with me standing right here?" Dylan eyeballed the blonde demon.

"What? Tell me I was wrong?" Lucas burst into laughter as my boyfriend made a fist by his side.

"Go to hell, Lucas." I muttered as I headed out of med-bay. I needed to find Wrex and stare the grim reaper in the eyes while those two finished their male bonding.

That's when it donned on me, no one bothered to tell me how to turn on my biotic abilities. I stared down at my hands as I walked to the elevator doors. I didn't want to appear clueless when I stood in front of the krogan for the first time, so I held out my palms and let out a soft grunt. Nothing happened. That's when I reached the conclusion that everything about having biotics, sucked.

During my examination, Dr. Chakwas told me that the nodes along my spine were a genetic development that required my mother to be exposed to eezo while carrying me. It didn't explain why the abilities started to work around the time that I met Jane, but confirmed what Adam always told me about being a freak that killed our mother at birth.

With all my attention spread between the memory of Adam and my hands, I didn't see the seven foot turian that turned the corner right in front of me. I closed my eyes the moment I felt his armor crash against my chest and his arms embrace me. By the time everything became still and I reopened my eyes, I was in shock. There was the turian that saved my life just a week earlier when I was shot in the chest, and I was straddling him like a bull.

"Garrus, what the..." I muttered something incoherent while Jane's ex that avoided my eye contact. Not that I ever thought as myself as a goddess, but I didn't think I was that repulsive. That's when I realized his talons held my most valuable assets as a woman, "Jebus on a dinosaur! What the in hell do you think you're doing?" I swatted his hands off my chest, "Don't just leave them sitting there like that!"

"You don't honestly think that I-"

"Just shut up!" I needed to create space between the two of us before someone noticed this provocative looking situation. My left boot found the grating of the floor again with ease as another problem popped up, my right side of my uniform was snagged on his armor. "Damn it!" I wiggled to try and get loose. "Just… I need…"

"Do you need some help getting off?" Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or maybe it was the fact that Garrus seemed a little too smug about how I was wiggling on top of him. Whatever the reason, I snapped.

"You asshole." That said as I threw my fist into the side of his face. For the second time that day, I used my fist to show how I felt without thinking about it first.

"Amber Lee!" I heard my middle name and froze.

"Adam I…" I looked down at Garrus and back to my hand before letting it drop to my side. "It's not what it looks like."

"You never were much for being a lady, but I thought that you at least kept things behind closed doors. This is a whole new low for you." My brother wrapped his hand around my bicep and pulled me off Garrus. I heard my uniform rip as my other boot found the floor. "You can't just punch your way through every man on this ship that you wanna bang. At least break up with poor Dylan first."

"It wasn't like that Adam! I wasn't paying attention and I… Just, I wasn't thinking."

"I'm a Boeshanz, Amber. I know what you were thinking, it's in our blood."

"He came on to me! What was I supposed to do?" I jerked my arm out of his clutches.

"I don't think you're his type. He picked Jane, the hot red head that I now bang on the regular. He's got decent taste in women, not a thing for tomboys with daddy issues." Adam nudged me in my middle, "Now apologize for punching your new beau."

"Beau? Apologize? Are you flipping kidding me? Would you be apologizing if that had been you sitting on top of Liara like that?"

"The one with the things on her head? Let's just say, bow chicka bow wow."

"You're disgusting, Adam." I gave Garrus one last glare before I stormed off to the elevator.

"You still didn't apologize!" Adam screamed after me as I dipped out of sight.

"Stupid turian, stupid Adam... Stupid… boys..." The speed of the elevator sucked, but the doors never took long to open. Once inside I leaned against the metal wall. I just wanted to get away from Garrus, even if it meant death by Wrex at this point.

"Hey!" My brother managed to jump in just as the door slid closed, "What's your damn problem?"

"According to you it's my raging libido." Stuck on the slowest moving piece of machinery with my idiot brother, everything about this screamed good idea.

"Lib-ee- what?"

"Nothing, my boobs just seem to be on everyone's minds."

"I don't want to hear about your boobs. I'm a pervert but that's just…" He rubbed the back of his neck.

"And I don't feel like discussing my sex life with you either, you ass!" I growled at him. Why did he feel the need to push me all the time? "Just forget that it ever happened."

"Alright, I'll also forget that you were dry humping the turian. Damn you're pissy when you wake up."

"I didn't dry hump Garrus!" I bellowed, "Now drop it!"

"Whatever." Adam put his hands up in surrender.

"Thank you." I let my head hit the wall behind me and closed my eyes.

"So you got one of them implants like Jane?" So much for silence.

"Not that you care, but yes." I lifted my head back up and looked at him.

"Sure as hell hope that works for you as well as it does her. You should see some of the crap she can do with that thing. I mean I thought sex was good back in my time but,-"

"I'm not hearing this!" I stuck my fingers in my ears. "I'm so not hearing this from you, about her! It's sick!" I waited a moment before putting my hands back to my side.

"Fine. I'm just glad that you're done throwing yourself a pity party." His then mocked, "Poor me, I made all my friends get on the Normandy where they can die and get eaten by space bugs. I'm Amber and I'm the sorriest excuse for a person you'll ever meet."

"I wasn't pouting, I was… thinking." I glared at him. "Stop pushing me. I've already punched an Eskimo and a turian today, a jackass is not something I want to add to that list."

"I'm sorry that someone peed in your cheerios this morning!" Adam yelled, "Not all of us had a week vacation! Some of us actually decided to help out around here so that we don't all blink out of existence!" It took me a moment to figure out what happened to trigger that. My brother never screamed at me unless I earned it, and something told me he'd hit that point with me. I needed a way to smooth things over.

"Sexcapades with Shepard is not what I'd consider training, Adam." I gave a coy smile as I tried to humor him a little. My brother needed me to feel like something in the crazy place was normal, and I hadn't been there for him for days.

"No, I mean real training. She thinks that I'll be a hell of a sniper with all the practice I've had hunting over the years."

"Shep sure seems to have a thing for snipers. Just watch your back with ole Gar-bear there, or you might end up being his next target."

"Jane says she took care of that already. You know I don't get into all that emotional relationship B.S." Adam shrugged it off with a smile. "So she's alllll mine as far as I know."

"I'm sure that Garrus will just let it all go like it never happened. Just make sure you sleep with a knife under your pillow." I snickered, "I know you're dying to talk about your training… go ahead, tell me."

"I'm going to specialize as an inter-filter."

"A what?"

"Inter-filter. Let's like a high tech spy."

"An infiltrator? Are you kidding me, Adam? I thought you were going to be locked up here on the ship somewhere where you couldn't get in trouble?" My brother never played the Mass Effect games, he'd be a sitting duck on a mission.

"I guess you don't know everything after all." He gave me a smug grin, loving the fact he knew something that I didn't.

"I just hope you aren't the one covering me, I don't want to end up with a bullet in the back of my head because you thought you knew what you were doing." Adam laughed as I felt the elevator slow.

"Don't be worried, kid. I have this." Adam held up the remote from the Wii that he kept strapped to his side, "This right here is my ace."

"Dare I even ask why you're carrying that thing with you?" I felt like face palming.

"Okay, hear me out." He held the controller in his hand and pointed it at me. "Mass Effect was a video game right? Well we are now living in that video game." He shook the remote. "This thing right here is the answer."

"It's a piece of antique garbage from the twenty first century." I rolled my eyes. "It's not a key to anything."

"That's where you're wrong. In game it pauses, reloads, shoots, jumps, kills…" He lifted it to his eyes and raised his brows. "I just have to figure out how to make it work here."

"You need to figure out how to make that lump three feet above your ass work." After spending what felt like an hour in the elevator with Adam, the door opened. I took a deep breath as I stepped into the cargo hold and prepared to play with Wrex.

"Amber, I'm telling you that this is the answer! I can just charge the batteries and its game over!" Adam holstered his remote like a weapon and smiled. "I'm going to save the galaxy and get all the chicks with a click of a button."

"You're an idiot. I don't know how you remember to tie your shoes in the morning."

"These don't have laces, so it's no longer an issue." Adam retorted.

"It was a rhetorical question. I didn't expect you to actually answer it."

"Why did you ask me a question that you didn't want an answer to? Something wrong with your Abdulla oblongata?"

"Do you even know what you just said?" I stopped looking for Wrex long enough to watch his face contort into a look of defeat.

"No. I'm just trying to sound like I do. Did it work?"

"Adam, just do me a favor. Don't share your video game theory with other people. We can just keep this little idea of yours between us, okay?"

"You don't give me any credit, Amber."

"You say that like you expected something me to say otherwise." I cracked my knuckles as I tried to refocus, "Are you going to watch me get killed or…"

"Hell yeah! I'm not missing the chance to see someone hand you your ass. For a minute there I thought Garrus was going to give you a good what for."

"Garrus?" He shocked me with that idea, "You don't think I can handle a goofy looking turian?"

"I'm just saying that one day, someone is going to give you what you've got comin' and when that happens, I want a front row seat to it."

"Don't… just don't." That's when I spotted Wrex leaning against a crate. "Jebus, this is going to suck." Adam chuckled as I walked off in the direction of my trainer. It felt like home for a minute, making me remember the days when Adam would gawk at the girls at the cheer competitions. While I warmed up and focused on the feat in front of me, he tried to score phone numbers from girls five years younger than him.

"Human." The sound of Wrex's voice made my heart race. This krogan had seen hell, and now a five foot ten inch blonde stood in front of him with hopes of being taught a few things from him. I eyed his red armor before settling on his face.

"My name is Amber, not human."

"You assume that I would know your name." I watched his lip curl as he spoke. So much for making a great first impression…

"As a matter of fact I do, Wrex." I waited for him to do something, but he just stood there like a tank. "Guess you're supposed to train me to use my biotics. Beggars can't be choosers."

"Humph." He stepped forward, away from the crate. "A human with a smart mouth, like that's something we haven't seen before."

"You're an old beat up old krogan with a rotten attitude, and you want to talk to me about clichés?" I didn't think about what I'd said until it was too late. Wrex started to walk in my direction and I happened to be the target his sights were set on. As bad as this was about to get, I couldn't let him know that he scared the crap out of me or it might make things even worse.

"Exactly my point. You humans are all the same, and it doesn't take a half-dead pyjak to figure that out." I tried to acknowledge his banter, but my eyes were glued to his lower half. In the Mass Effect games I noticed that the old man sauntered when he walked, but seeing it first-hand floored me. It hypnotized me like a hot chick in a beer commercial that was moving in slow motion. All I could see was Wrex.

"I know that look!" Adam called from beside me, "Amber is checking out the krogan! Whoo hoo! First Garrus, then Wrex? Wait till Dylan learns about your thing for aliens! He's going to go nuts!" He started to laugh as Wrex took a step to the side and ended up right in front of him.

"Is there a reason that you're here, pyjack?" His voice shook me from my trance, "Other than to piss me off?"

"I followed this one down here to see you work her over. Although from the looks she's giving you, she's more interested in getting it on with an old dragon that getting trained in anything." Adam acted like an animal dry humping the air, "My sister the dragon slayer."

"Adam!" My voice echoed throughout the cargo hold, "Have you lost your mind?"

"Take it easy sis, I got this." Adam stopped acting like a frat boy and motioned for the Wii remote strapped to his side.

"Oh Adam, no." I moaned. Yes, Adam deserved to get the crap knocked out of him, but I didn't want him to piss off my trainer in the process.

"The elevator is back there, I suggest that you make good use of it." Wrex nodded his head to the door behind us.

"I'm not scared of some mini T-Rex. I was All-State linebacker my junior and senior year of high school." He rolled his neck from one side to another, making it crack. "I can take him."

"Don't be a moron, and get the hell out of here!" I tried to get him to take the hint before he did something stupid.

"Is there something wrong with this human?" He asked while sizing up my brother.

"Maybe?" I whispered. Surely Chakwas would have told me he brain damaged, right?

"Look, Amber! The old lizard is shaking in his boots. Not that I blame him. Most human dudes are scared of the awesome power that is 'the Adam' and he's just an old washed up alien." I watched as my brother suddenly pulled back his fist and swung at the krogan with everything he had.

"Adam!" I yelled as Wrex took a jab to his abdomen. "Do you have a death wish?"

"He's tougher than he looks hunh? Doesn't matter because I got this!" My brother grabbed the Wii remote from his holster and held it to Wrex's chest. His fingers fumbled from one button to the next until he realized that his video game theory didn't apply to the giant standing in front of him. "Shit." Adam's eyes looked up from the controller just in time to see Wrex head butt him in the face.

"I warned you, moron." I shook my head as my brother now laid behind me motionless.

"If you're related to him, I'm not sure that you can be trained." Wrex sauntered back in front of me.

"Trust me, we are nothing alike."

"Good, now lift the crate." He nodded at the box in front of me the size of a car.

"Sure thing" Wrex moved to my side as I rubbed my hands together. "How do I do that?"

"With your biotics." I watched him look me up and down like I smarted off to him. How was I supposed to explain that I didn't have a clue what I was doing? Something in my head still told me the carnivore planned on eating me the moment I turned my back.

"Right, I figured that much." I glanced at my hands and back at him.

"Just lift the crate, human." He growled at me as he motioned to Adam. "Or you can end up like your brood brother back there."

"Don't threaten me, krogan." I snarled back at him in an attempt to cover my fear.

"You're wasting my time. Now lift the crate."

"You lift it!" I yelled at him. I hated it when someone tried to boss me around. "Go on, big daddy, and show the puny human biotic how it's done!" As soon as the words left my mouth Wrex had his hand outstretched and the crate in the air.

"Your turn." The blue glow stopped as he lowered his hand, sending the crate crashing back onto the floor with a thud.

"How'd you do that?" The blonde in me took over as I clapped my hands and bounced in front of him. "How'd you just turn them on like it was nothing?" I grabbed for his hand and pulled him to me in order to get a closer look at it.

"What?" Wrex grimaced. "I did that to shut you up, not make you act like a red sand addict." He jerked his hand away from me and glanced at it as though I'd infected him.

"I can't even make my hands glow when I tell them to and you tossed that thing like it was nothing!" I raised my hands and stuck out my tongue, trying to get a reaction from them. "I feel like I don't have a clue what I'm doing." I confessed at last.

"Humans never know what they're doing. You're just the only one I've heard admit it." I took a deep breath; at least he didn't plan on killing me for saying it.

"There are plenty of adages about my kind being imperfect and clueless. Maybe if you took time to get to know us…."

"Do I seem like the social type to you, Bo?"

"What did you just call me?" I glared at him when my heard my name shortened. Not that I loved my last name, but to hear him disrespect it while being such a stubborn ass made me livid.

"Bo."

"My name is Amber, not Bo!" I stomped my foot. "Say it with me, Wrex. Am-ber."

"Lift the crate, Bo." Wrex curled his lip as my last name fell from his mouth again.

"Stop calling me that!" I screamed at him as my fists shot down to my side. "It's Amber! Out of everyone on this ship, you sure as hell don't have the right to call me Bo!" I raised my hand to point at him when I noticed the blue ebb of my biotics. "What the…"

"So you're a biotic after all." Wrex nodded at the crate. "Now let's see if you can use them." With a growl I stuck my hands out in front of me and concentrated. The haze became brighter as I focused everything on getting the object in the air.

"Damn it!" A moment later I dropped my hands back to my side. "The stupid thing didn't even budge."

"I noticed."

"I don't need your snide comments, Captain Obvious! They aren't helping anything!" You're really starting to piss me off!"

"Am I supposed to care?"

"Maybe? Yes? I don't know!" I stomped my foot, "You're supposed to be training me, not insulting me. We aren't making any flipping progress." I look down at my hands.

"Ugh." A groan came from behind me, making me turn my head in time to see Adam sit back up. "Damn dinosaur…"

"You okay?" I asked.

"Fine, I'm just fine." He grunted while he climbed back to his feet, rubbing the center of his forehead before he holstered his remote, "Did I miss something?"

"Just a little biotic training and Wrex being a pain in the ass." I put my hands on my hips as he walked over to me. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't… know." He stammered, "But it didn't involve me getting knocked the hell out by Godzilla over there." My brother leaned around me and scowled at Wrex.

"Adam, you aren't invincible and he's not like the boys back home."

"I'm not invincible, yet." Adam corrected me, "I'll figure it out, just wait."

"Bo, giving up already?" Wrex grumbled from the other side of me.

"Don't start, krogan." I held my finger out to Wrex, telling him to wait a minute while I turned to my brother to look him over for damage. The skin under both eyes started to turn purple but he appeared fine. "Go to med-bay and have the Chakwas look at you. If you lose more anymore brain cells you might actually be considered dumber than a rock."

"Bo!" Wrex growled a little louder, "Let's get back to work."

"Hold on one damn minute!" I shouted without looking over my shoulder, "I'll come and check on you in a bit, Adam."

"Did he call you Bo?" Adam smirked. "When did that start?"

"He isn't doing it to be nice, he's doing it to piss me the hell off!" I raised my voice to ensure Wrex heard me.

"So I'm out for all of five minutes, and the krogan has already starting to round the bases to home plate? Damn you move fast." Adam smiled. "Wait till I tell Dylan."

"What did you just say?"

"I didn't stutter. You have a thing for old Wrexy there, it's obvious."

"Adam..." I gave a big smile as I gritted my teeth. "You just woke up, and I don't want to knock you back out. So shut your mouth and walk out that damn door. "

"Bo!" Wrex yelled loud enough that it felt like the floor shook. "We aren't done!"

"Hold on, damn it!" I looked back to Adam.

"Better go, your lover is calling you." I narrowed my eyes and poked him in the chest.

"It's not funny, Adam."

"No, it's hilarious." He took a step back to head towards the elevator. "Poor Dylan. He's going to…"

"Stop being an ass! Why is that so flipping hard for you to get through that thick skull of yours!" With those words I lunged at my brother, my hands engulfed with biotics as I grabbed him by his collar.

"Alright! I get it!" He yelled at me, looking down at my fists. "Just cut it out and I'll leave!" I let go of his shirt and ran my fingers through my matted hair before heading back over to Wrex.

"Punk ass." I reached out with my hands again, the blue glow of my biotics now coming as soon as I needed them to. I pulled on the crate in an attempt to get it to lift off the ground, sticking my tongue out the side of my mouth as nothing happened.

"Figured you'd given up." Wrex said while I dropped my hands to my side.

"I can't even lift a crate and I'm supposed to help Shepard in a few hours. This is impossible."

"Whining won't lift that crate, Bo." I growled as he said my abbreviated last name again.

"Wait, I thought you didn't know my name?" I asked.

"You made an assumption, and I didn't bother to correct you. Your kind assumes too much, and it makes you weak against your enemies."

"I'm your enemy?"

"If you were, you'd already be dead. Now, lift the crate, Bo."

"We're going to have to work on your people skills." I stuck my hands back out and tried once more to get the crate to budge.

"My people skills should be the least of your worries."

_**A/N MisDirected! I love you and thank you for helping me improve on so many of the things that I have issues with! This chapter took me longer but I think it's better than some of my others by leaps and bounds! XOXO- Bronzey**_


	3. Don't Leave Me Gethin'

**Chapter 3: Don't Leave Me Gethin'**

The day that ran my first 5k I swore to myself I would never do it again. My legs felt like jello, my stomach wouldn't settle down, and I threw up at least three time while I ran. When I crossed the line and my brother Adam handed me a bottle of water, tears filled my eyes as he told me he had never been so proud of me. Even though I was exhausted, Adam carted me around from person to person and introduced me as the Boeshanz that didn't know how to give up. With his encouragement I can now say that I've ran in over twenty-seven races in my life and am in the best shape possible. Now I'm standing on the _Normandy_ with an old krogan that has just made me feel like I ran my first 5k, but this time I'm not shying away from the fatigue that's shaking me. This time I'm more worried that Wrex will eat me.

* * *

"Ugh! This whole biotic training thing sucks!" I tilted my head back before I fell to my knees. "Two hours, two hours Wrex, and the damn thing hasn't budged a flipping inch."

"You really expected to move it?"

"I expected it to do something! I mean Jebus, even you can use biotics and you're ancient." I gave a halfhearted smile. Wrex worked me to the point where it took conscious effort to stand on my own two feet, but refused to let me give up and walk away. "Plus, you smell awful."

"You're not a krogan, Bo. If you weren't some weak human female, I would have expected more from you." Wrex called me by my abbreviated last name for the umpteenth time that day. About thirty minutes into our training session I figured out he wanted me to get irritated, so I no longer reacted when I heard it. "And I can smell your stink from here."

"Suppose I do need a shower." I ran my palms down the front of my thighs, and my stomach growled. "Maybe grab something to eat while I'm at it."

"It figures you'd say that. Go, and wash the small of turian off of you while you're at it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I pulled my feet out from underneath me and stood back up.

"Forget it." Wrex started to swagger off in the direction of the armory. "When the mission on Prime is over, I expect to see you back here."

"Why?"

"You still don't have a clue on how to use your biotics. I don't want to look like I can't train a pyjack."

"I'm not a pyjack you damn dinosaur!" I yell to him. "I'll figure this out… Eventually."

"That's what I thought."

"Jebus on a krogan…" I groaned as I thought about another training session with Wrex. "I better move the crate soon, or he's going to work me to death."

I jogged towards the elevator as I attempted to ignore the growing tremor in my legs. Years of work outs, marathons, and strength training didn't prepare me for the fatigue after two hours with Wrex. Past the point of exhaustion, I decided that anyone with abilities like this gained my respect. Biotics sucked the life out of you faster than anything I ever imagined.

When the elevator door opened I climbed inside and tried to silence my thoughts. I just needed a moment of peace without Adam, Jane, or Wrex in order to make a list of things to get done in what little free time I stumbled upon. I listed them on my fingers: Take a shower, eat something, and take a nap. Content with myself, I laid my head back against the cool metal of the elevator and closed my eyes.

"Boeshanz, I presume?" I opened my eyes to see a woman in front of me with a data pad. Unaware of just how long she watched me sleep standing against the wall, I stepped out onto the crew deck.

"That would be me. Did you need me for something?"

"I'm Corporal Kim Bradford, ma'am. I'm here to inform you that the orders placed for your uniforms and armor, have cleared. You can find what you need on your rack. Welcome to the Alliance."

"Can we stop with the whole ma'am thing? I think you're older than me and it creeps me the hell out." I brushed my hair from my face.

"Your armor has been stowed with everyone else's and you've been given the green light for Eden Prime." Small red and brown ringlets bounced around her face when she handed me the data pad.

"Okay, so I'm all integrated and official like then. Thanks for that." I smiled and looked at the orange squiggles on the device. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I need you to sign off on it, ma'am"

"Okay, one more time with the ma'am thing… No matter what you've been told, I'm just some average nobody. There's no need to be formal, okay? Now, do you mind showing me how to work this thing?"

"Just use your finger and touch here… and here… and here…" I tapped indicated spots as she worked down the screen with me. "And here."

"Anything else?"

"No ma- umm..." She took the device from me.

"Amber, just call me Amber."

"No, Amber. Thank you." Kim nodded her head and excused herself.

After I got my new apparel put away, ate something, and took a quick shower, I collapsed face down on my bed. Muscles I never knew existed ached and renewed my hope that a nap might fix everything. The moment I drifted off to sleep I felt a nudge against the foot of my bed.

"Boeshanz, get on your feet soldier."

"Noooo…" I checked the time on my omni-tool. "I've been here for… not even ten minutes. Just give me another twenty and I'll do whatever you want. Okay?"

"That wasn't a suggestion, it was an order."

"An order?" I rolled over to see Ashley at the foot of my bed. "Williams?"

"In the flesh."

"Ugh, just come back in a bit, will you?" I flopped back down on my pillow.

"I told Shepard I'd have you up and ready in fifteen for mission briefing."

"Do me a favor and tell her you couldn't find me, and I'll be down there in twenty."

"That's not going to work, Boeshanz. Now get on your feet and let's move." I pulled myself onto my elbows and looked at her over my shoulder.

"Look, I'm sure you're not trying to piss me off, and maybe this is us getting off on the wrong foot or something, but I'm not getting up. So you can sit there and watch me sleep, or you can meet me in the armory in twenty minutes and we can be best of friends. Okay?" I slid my arms back down and let my face hit the pillow. "Damn Alliance poster girl…"

"Have it your way then." I heard her walk away from me and tried to force myself to fall back to sleep.

Just as I felt my consciousness slip away from me, the sensation of a thousand icicle shaped needles against my skin pulled me back to reality. I tried to scream, but the sound refused to come out. I flew to my feet to figure out what just happened. With my uniform soaked, I glared at the woman with the plastic container in her hands.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head." Ashley gave me a smug grin as water droplets ran down the nape of my neck. I reached to wipe them away. "You wanted to do things the hard way…"

"I can't believe you just did that."

"Now whenever you're ready, princess." Ashley tried not to snicker as I shook my hands to dry them. I pushed my wet, matted bangs out of my face and glowered at the woman. I always disliked the woman for one reason or another, but this just solidified those feelings.

"Princess? Listen lady, I don't know who you think you are-"

"It's Lt. Commander Williams, not lady." I watched her fold her arms across her chest and put her weight on her right foot. She wanted me up and grouchy? She got it.

"With all due respect, Williams, you're nothing more than a Gunnery Chief here in 2183, or did your inflated ego make you forget about your name being a black eye for the Alliance for all those years?"

"I earned my rank like I earned my Spectre status." She pointed her finger at my chest, "I'm not just some biotic wash out that can't hack it."

"You were the second human Spectre, and that's only because Alenko wasn't alive to ensure you didn't get it. But hey, after all this is said and done for the second time you might not make it alive off Virmire." I crossed my fingers and held them up. "Here's hoping."

"Babe!" Dylan called to me as he walked through the door. "Glad to see that you're still in one piece after spending a few hours with that old krogan."

"Did you forget that I've lived with Adam my whole life? It's just Wrex, and he's a walk in the park after my moron brother."

"Why are you dripping wet?" Dylan touched my shoulder.

"Oh, you know how I like to shower with my clothes on." I nudged him in his side. "I guess you started a new thing for me, what can I say?"

"Right… I guess." He brushed a wet strand of hair from my cheek. "So, did you learn anything useful?"

"Not really. It's going to take time."

"Well, I see you met the Chief. She's been training me for the past week. She even taught me to handle a Mattock and a few other basic attack principles. We've become a hell of a team."

"There's something to be said about your natural talent, Dyl." I heard her say his nickname and cringed.

"Dyl?" He flushed red. "Uh hunh…"

"This has been fun, but we need to gear up and meet for mission briefing." Ashley turned to walk to the door. "Let's move."

"Right behind you, Ashes." He nodded his head. When did she get a pet name from him?

The elevator ride to the armory didn't provoke much conversation from anyone. I sighed once or twice, and Ashley gave me looks that told me to go to hell. I wished Jane saved Kaidan over Ashley, he would have found a way to get me the twenty extra minutes. The door opened, and Ashley took off towards the armory in a jog.

"She called you Dyl. Care to explain that to me?" I whispered as we walked.

"Don't get all jealous on me now. We need to focus." Focus? Who was this person, and where was my boyfriend?

"Would you rather explain why you are calling her Ashes then?"

"Amber, don't read into something that isn't there. We have to all do our part, and she's been getting us ready. I get that you've had issues, but I'm here to make a difference."

"You can make a difference and not flirt with the bimbo."

"Flirting?" He laughed. "She's not flirting with me, it's not like that."

"I know how to tell when a woman is up to no good and when one's attractive. I'm blonde, not stupid. She's going to snake you away from me, just wait and see." He stopped and grabbed my hand.

"Amber, I'm not going anywhere. I'm happy with you, and I don't see anything happening to change that."

"You don't see anything happening, but it doesn't mean that it can't happen." I let go of his hand and entered the armory. Each person dressed out and grabbed gear in preparation for the mission ahead of them. I swallowed when I felt butterflies creep in to my stomach. This was suddenly very real.

"Bo." Wrex slipped the thermal clip into his Claymore as I walked by.

"Wrexy."

"Did he just call you Bo?" Dylan nudged me in the side. "Wrexy someone I need to worry about?"

"No, it's just Wrex. It's not the same thing as some hot to trot xenophobic b-"

"Amber!" Adam yelled at me from a few feet away. "You wanna tell me what the hell you were thinking when you put in the order for your armor?"

"What are you talking about, Adam?" I asked as Dylan stopped in front of his locker. I made my over to my brother who tried to stifle his laughter. "I didn't put in an order for anything."

"Something told me this wasn't your color." Adam tossed me a shin guard and laughed. I stared at the lightweight piece of gear in horror.

"It's purple. It's not even purple it's fluorescent purple with neon green pieces on it." I grabbed the clasp and groaned. "Just my luck."

"Guess we don't have to worry about you getting lost on the field. Just look for the person that looks like a neon grape."

"There's no way that I can wear this thing! It's like it screams to the robots 'Here I am! Look at me! Come stick me on a spike!' Who ordered this thing?" I looked around the room for the culprit.

"I had Lucas order it for you a few days ago." Jane put her hand on my shoulder. "The color doesn't matter and we can get it changed later."

"I'm murdering him the moment we get back." It figured that damn demon did this.

"Alright people, almost all of us have done this before." Jane walked to the middle of the room. "We're going in three teams, each with their own objective. Team three will consist of Liara, Adam, and Tali. Cerberus isn't here to make our lives a living hell and getting Javik could prove useful."

"I am sure that it won't be an issue, Shepard. We already have the needed information to open his stasis pod and excavating him should not prove to be an issue." Liara tapped her wrist and nodded to Tali.

"Good. Team two is Wrex, Garrus, and Amber. Find Alenko and any other survivors that might be down there." Neither Wrex or Garrus said a word. They both nodded to one another and looked over to me.

"Wrex and Garrus? Jebus on a krogan." I whispered under my breath. Wait, she didn't say Dylan. That meant…

"Dylan and Ashley will come with me. We're going to make an attempt to save Nihlus from Saren before we work in getting those bombs diffused. When your team finishes your objective, rendezvous at the beacon."

"Bacon…" Adam slapped my shoulder. "Or am I the only one that heard that."

"Shut up Adam. You can't be thinking about food when you're getting ready to have to actually do something important."

"I'm always thinking about food." He grabbed his Wii remote from his locker and winked at me. "Just in case… Well, you know."

"Please don't tell me that you are taking that thing with you."

"I might need it." He grabbed his dark green armor. "Never know when I might need a power up." I rolled my eyes at him and saw Ashley move closer to Dylan

"Three teams, three objectives. You ready, Dyl?"

"I think I can keep up."

"I have no doubt." Ashley put her helmet back in her locker and winked at me. I hated her.

"Babe," Dylan came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "You're going to be fine. Wrex and Garrus won't let anything happen to you."

"Adam is the one we should be worried about. He's going with Tali and Liara. If a geth doesn't shoot him, they will."

"Don't be jealous that we both got stuck with hot chicks and you ended up with Skeletor and a dinosaur. Besides, if we're taking bets on who's getting shot out there, my money's on you."

"I'm more in shape that some loser that sits on the couch drinking beer and scratching himself, Adam."

"Armor up! Let's go!" Jane called out.

"You heard the boss. Let's see your ass in that neon gear." Adam laughed as he walked away from me.

With my armor in hand, I headed off to change. The purple monstrosity came with a dozen different clasps and buckles to be secured. Dressed out, I headed out to the shuttle bay where each team gravitated towards their loading zones to complete final weapons checks. I spotted Adam in his dark green armor and ran over to him.

"I'll be damned, you look like action figure Barbie." Adam chuckled as he started to smile at me.

"Shut up." I told him as I hid my own grin.

"Just try not to get shot this time, Sis."

"But it was so much fun dying the last time. Just let me try it one more time, I promise I'll get it right." I pretend to pout and stomp my foot while my brother rolled his eyes.

"You always were a show off."

"Don't get yourself killed, Adam, and don't go pointing your remote at a geth and expect something to happen." Adam grabbed my right arm and closed one of the clasps I missed.

"And you're worried about me."

"Ha, ha, ha. I mean it. I'll whoop your ass myself if you get hurt out there."

"Yeah, I know." Adam smiled before he started towards his team. "Stay safe, sis."

"Hey Bo," Wrex motioned towards the weapon in his hand as I walked over to our shuttle. "I grabbed you a Vindicator. I would have snatched you a real gun, but the Chief seemed to think this was the most you could handle."

"Great." I grasped the weapon and put it in its holster.

"Babe." I spun around to see Dylan in navy blue armor. "The purple really isn't that bad on you."

"It's armor, that's all that matters." I sighed. "Are you sure about this whole thing, Dyl?"

"It'll be fine. We both know how this mission goes and we didn't come here to just sit on the ship."

"Don't try to be some big goddamn hero either. You get a scratch on you and..."

"Stop worrying and get the job done, Amber. I'll be fine." He pulled me into him. "No getting shot this time, okay?"

"Okay." I closed my eyes to kiss him goodbye, but Ashley's voice rang out and interrupted.

"Dyl, let's go! You can finish that when we get back!"

"I love you, babe." He gave a quick nod of his head before he took off to his shuttle. I watched him wave to me before he climbed inside with Ashley.

"Love you too, ass." I ran over to my own team and pushed past them to get in the shuttle without a word.

"He'll be fine, Bo." Wrex followed me in with Garrus close behind. They latched the door as I faced away from the both of them.

"I'm not worried about it." I told the two of them before I turned to face Wrex. I grabbed the pistol from his outstretched hand. "I have to focus on not getting staked by robots anyway."

"Who are you trying to convince?" Garrus asked as I holstered my gun as the shuttle started to move.

"Just leave it alone."

"I've learned that humans are complicated in that area, Wrex." Garrus muttered from the left of me. "Personal experience."

"The Commander is barely human, she's more like a krogan female. It explains why you couldn't handle her."

"Ew! I know this is normal guy talk, but I don't need to hear it." I shook my head. "Can we just… not do this… whatever this is?"

The next ten minutes seemed like an eternity. Garrus and Wrex didn't say much more as the shuttle bounded along its route to the landing site, and I tried to keep thoughts of the boys out of my mind. I didn't want to think about the possibility of injuries and me helpless to do anything about it.

With a jerk, the shuttle hit the ground, and I pulled my weapon from my back.

"Don't do anything foolish, Bo." Garrus wrapped his hand around the latch. "I've seen to many men die from trying to be heros."

"My name is Amber, Gar-bear. Not Bo… And I'm a woman, not some stupid boy." The door flung open, and Wrex stepped out of the shuttle with his weapon drawn. Garrus and I both watched as he ensured that area was clear before we made our move over to him.

"What's wrong with the name Bo?" Wrex asked as we approached him.

"I don't think she likes it."

"Damn skippy I don't." I glanced around the area and the reality of Eden Prime hit me. The red sky, the smell of the air, even the general layout of the terrain gave me goose bumps. I stood on another planet for the first time.

"I'm going to higher ground. Wrex, you're out front." Garrus aimed his sight and then looked at me. "Bo, you bring up the rear."

"My name is Amber, not Bo!" I almost yelled. Garrus took off and Wrex started to jog out in front of me to put distance between the two of us. I let him get ten yards before I matched his pace.

It surprised me that we ran for forty minutes and managed to skirt around every single attack from the geth. I expected to undergo constant barrages of fire from the robots and feel my state of exhaustion over take me at the worst possible moment. Everything stayed quiet.

"Up ahead, it's where Alenko should be." I checked my omni-tool. At least I did something right on occasion.

"Let's stick to cover. If he's there, he's probably been pinned down. It would account for why we haven't seen much action." Garrus's voice sounded confident. A single shot rang out from his rifle followed by gunfire.

"Bo, stay back, and find cover." Wrex ordered as I ducked behind the closest shoulder high rock.

"Three to your left, Wrex." Garrus called out as I poked my head up from cover. I aimed my weapon on the first one I saw and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

"Go figure." Before I figured out how to make my gun fire I heard the plink of something hit my shields. I glanced up to see two geth headed my direction. "Not good, so not good." I crouched back down and slammed a thermal clip into the Vindicator.

"Bo! You going to do something, or just cower there like a turian?" Wrex yelled from out front.

"We don't cower, Wrex." Garrus unloaded a round into one of the geth that closed in on me.

"Not the time, you two!" I popped back up just in time to see the other geth train his weapon on me. With no time to lose I pulled the trigger. The geth made a loud screech before it fell to the ground with a thud.

"I take it back, Garrus. She actually tries to fight!" The krogan roared as he charged another geth. With my path cleared, I worked my way closer to the fight.

"To your right." Garrus called from his perch.

"Bo, move your ass and take these things out!" Wrex dropped into cover to reload his shotgun while I took aim on the geth closest to him.

"I can do this," I muttered to myself as I get the flashlight head in my sight. With every beat in my chest I heard another shot bounce off my shields until I downed the machine.

"Not terrible for someone without training." I heard Garrus say.

"Not bad for a human," Wrex said as he reloaded his shotgun.

"You two seriously need to shut up!" I pulled back into cover to reload and check my shields. "I can't concentrate!"

"Garrus, leave Bo alone. She can't kill geth while she's thinking about you grabbing her," Wrex yelled as he smashed a geth against the ground.

"I don't think that's quite how that went," Garrus called out again.

"I smelled you all over her."

"Wrex! I swear on all that is holy if you don't shut-" I stopped as a hollow scream of a monster filled the air. Chills traipsed down my spine as I looked around me for the creature that scared me more than anything… husks.

"On your six, Bo!" Garrus yelled as I turned to see my nightmare headed straight for me. I shrieked before I ran out of cover and made it to Wrex.

"What are you doing?" He growled, "Don't tell me you're afraid of something that's already dead."

"They aren't dead if they're moving and trying to eat me!" I pulled out my pistol and proceeded to fire one round after another. "How many Gar?"

"Looks like a dozen, you two split from one another or you'll end up pinned."

"Move your ass, Bo!" Wrex nudged me to his left when I downed the third husk. I needed to reload. I dropped behind a metal panel and pulled the empty clip out of the pistol. A loud screech from one of the husks pierced the air, and distracted me enough to make my fumble the gun right into a tall patch of grass.

"Damn it!" I squatted to ground and tried to locate the pistol I dropped. The relentless noise of rounds ricocheting off my shields made me panic. I gave up on the gun, pulled the Vindicator from my holster, and took aim at the closest husk to me.

"Bo, you have-" I didn't missed what Wrex yelled as I spun to see three husks within feet of me.

"Damn it!" I trained my fire at the closest one and worked my way to the second. My gun clicked to tell me it was out of ammo. "Shit, shit, shit!" I didn't take three steps before the two of them were on top of me. They swung at me and managed to swipe my feet out from under me. Sprawled out on the ground, I rolled over before I became pinned. I kicked the first one and sent him flying backwards while the other husk seized the opportunity to get his hands in my face. I felt the gash open up on my forehead and closed my eyes for a brief moment. This was it, I was going to be eaten alive my futuristic zombies.

Then everything stopped.

"What the?" I opened my eyes to see a goofy looking marine in grey armor.

"I gotcha. Let me know when your shields are back up." I didn't hesitate. I rolled back to my feet and let my back hit the metal panel. I heard the whirr of my shields and nodded to him.

"I'm good. How many left?"

"Wrex is taking the last one out as we speak." He turned to look at me, "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." I felt a tickle on the side of my face and reached for it. My hand now coated in red I tried to shrug it off. Dylan and Adam were going to kill me.

"Medi-gel will take care of that." Jenkins tells me while I wiped my hand against the grass and holstered my Vindicator.

"I'm sure it will be fine." I stood back up and met the eyes of the marine that saved my life. He smiled at me.

"Who are you?"

"They call me Jenkins, but my name is actually Richard. I was sent here with Lt. Alenko and we've been pinned for hours. Everyone's been killed by those things except the two of us." He threw his weapon on his back. "Can I get a name to go with that beautiful face of yours?" I felt my brow crease. What did he just say?

"I'm… I'm Boeshanz. I'm here with a few people from the _Normandy_ to rescue you." I looked at the rest of my team as I tried to figure out what he'd just said. "We received a com that you needed assistance, we came to help."

"Hell of a rescue." He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled at me again. Now weirded out by the antics of the marine in grey, I started to move back to my squad mates.

"You said Jenkins, right?"

"Sure did. You can call me Rich." I stopped and looked at him.

"What did you say?"

"My friends call me Rich. No reason for us to be so formal after I saved your life." Jenkins tells me with a smile. I rolled my eyes at him and continued to walk.

"Riiiiight. Well…" I sure as hell didn't know how to explain to this guy that he died the first ten minutes into the game and that most people didn't hit on someone they knew for all of five minutes. Unless you were Adam…

"So you were sent to save me while Commander Shepard went to find Nihlus. When did aliens start working for the Alliance?" Kaidan still held his gun in his hands, not that I blamed him when faced with Wrex and Garrus.

"We came on the _Normandy_." I watched Garrus look at Kaidan's weapon for a moment before he decided to holster his weapon.

"Umm… Guys?" I stood beside Wrex and looked to Garrus. "Not to kill the awkward moment you have going on here, but we need to make it to the beacon before anything else strange happens here." Kaidan sighed in relief at the sight of me.

"Lt. Alenko, ma'am. Are you part of the _Normandy_ crew?"

"I am. I'm a new recruit that was just brought on and not much of a shot." I wiped my forehead again and streak blood back into my blonde hair. "Your man Jenkins here saved my ass. I guess I owe y'all."

"I could say the same for your team."

"Whoa, they aren't my team, they're Shepard's. I just get to tag along and play back up." I looked to Jenkins who watched everything I did. What the hell was with that guy?

"Commander Shepard is working with them?"

"Yes, she is. Now, we're supposed to meet at some beacon thing, and I'd love it if you two could just come with us. We can talk on the way." I didn't want to be the person that explained the time travel thing to anyone. I just needed to get back to the boys and Jane.

"Are you talking about the same Prothean beacon we were sent here for?" Kaidan asks.

"It's our rendezvous location with Shepard. If you have more questions you can ask her when we get there." Garrus looked at him. "But we should move before we end up in another fire fight."

"Agreed." Wrex grumbled.

"Well, now that we all agree on something, let's go." I smiled as I noticed Kaidan's stare. "What? Did I do something?"

"I didn't catch your name, soldier."

"I didn't give it, actually. My name is-"

"Just call her Bo… Can we move now?"

"Shut your mouth, Wrexy." I offered my hand out to Kaidan. "My name is Boeshanz, Amber Boeshanz." I watched his eyes widen.

"What did you say?"

"My name is Amber Boeshanz."

"That's not possible."

_**A/N DR CRIT I LOVE YOU! Thank you for the amazing work you've done with me! Ames and Lucas, thanks for poking me until this thing was done... And Dyl, if you even run off after Ashes rather than kiss me good-bye I will break your face... XOXO Bronzey**_


	4. Double Beacon Cheeseburger

I grew up in a very small community on the outskirts of one of the biggest cities in Texas. Most people see shows about the small towns where everyone knows the tiniest details that make up your neighbors life, and I just happened to live that reality for eighteen years. When I moved away to the big city, I basked in the fact no one knew my name or brother for at least a forty-mile radius. I felt free from my own past. Maybe that's why the reaction from a well-known figure so far in the future made me feel as though I missed something major in my new found place in the galaxy.

* * *

The confused look on Kaidan Alenko's face said it all, he knew me from somewhere. I replayed the conversation in my head to see if I mentioned something out of the ordinary, but an introduction and exchange of names didn't elicit the type of reaction he gave me.

"Why are you looking at me like you've just seen a ghost?" I pulled back my hand since it seemed he lost interest in a handshake with our introductions. Yet another awesome first impression made by Amber…

"Sir, do you recognize her?" Jenkins asked Alenko with a puzzled look on his face.

"No, we've never met one another," Kaidan said, "I only know her by reputation."

"What the hell does that mean? I don't know what reputation means where you come from, but if you just eluded to be being some kind of asari consort I'm going to break your damn nose!" I pointed my finger at his face. "I'm not a damn prostitute!"

"I wasn't implying that-"

"Oh, I know what you were implying, ass hat!" I dropped my hand and looked to Wrex. "Can we go before I accidentally shoot Boy Wonder here in the throat?"

"I'm just saying that it's not everyday that you come face to face with a dead biotic prodigy." Kaidan stammered, "You can't blame me for being a little shocked by that."

"Well I'm not dead, I'm standing right here in front of you." I paused. "Wait, how did you know I was a biotic?"

"The name Amber Boeshanz is synonymous with biotics, but it still doesn't explain how you are standing here in front of me."

"We can discuss this once we hit the rendezvous with Shepard. I'm sure she can answer your questions, Alenko." Garrus removed his Mantis from its holster. "Besides, her reputation is something that can be discussed in a more private setting."

"I don't have a damn reputation!" I stomped my foot.

"Whatever you say, Bo." Wrex looked to the rest of the team. "We need to keep moving."

"Agreed." Kaidan pointed up the ravine. "The beacon should be through here and up the next ridge. Geth were concentrated in that area and kept us from advancing. If we can make through them, we should find the rest of your team."

"I'll keep to the high ground. Alenko, you and Wrex take point. Bo, you and Jenkins follow behind. With the five of us working together any geth that make contact with shouldn't be an issue." Garrus looked down his sight at the landscape in front of us. "Let's move."

Neither Kaidan nor Wrex said a word as they took position in front of Jenkins and I. I looked over to the marine who proceeded to check his weapon and take position beside me. With all the commotion earlier, I didn't take the time to notice the poor shape of his armor. Deep gouges on the front of his chest plate told me that in order to keep their position, they fought like hell. Something in me wanted to reach out and trace my fingers over the evidence left on the front of him. Just as I lifted my hand, Jenkins cleared his throat.

"What?"

"You might want to take care of that now." He gestured to the side of my face.

"Damn." I reached up and pulled back my fingers to see them coated in crimson red. "I forgot that husk got his claws on me."

"Here." Jenkins opened a hard pocket on the right side of his armor and removed a silver container.

"What's that?"

"It's medi-gel." He twisted the lid off of the metal jar and I craned my neck to see inside. Thick purple goo clung to the edges of the near empty container and Jenkins scooped up a good portion onto his finger. "Come here."

"No, I'm not letting you-" I didn't get the last word out before he grabbed me by my chest plate and pulled me over to him.

"No reason to be stubborn about it, I'm just trying to help you." He held onto my armor and pushed against my head to tilt it to the side. Jenkins made me feel like a child as he applied the cool gel into the gash against my own will. That's when the sensation of a red-hot poker being stuck to the side of my face started.

"Ah!" I pushed away from him. "That burns you jerk!"

"Well it can't hurt any worse than that open wound! Now, come here." Jenkins pulled me back to him and blew against the side of my face until the pain stopped. "There, now by the time we reach the beacon you should be fine." He grinned and took a step back from me.

"I was already well on my way to being fine. You just made the side of my face feel like it was on fire." Awkwardness settled between the two of us after he placed the container back into his armor. "We should go." I took another look at him before I started to jog to catch up with the rest of our team.

"So…" As soon as we caught up to Wrex and Kaidan, Jenkins broke the silence. "So, you know Alenko?"

"Not really."

"But he knows you?"

"Apparently he knows me by reputation. Weren't you there for any of that conversation?" I spotted a set of dragon's teeth to the left of us and paused. There weren't bodies stuck on top of them, but the sight gave me chills that trickled down my spine.

"I was just making small talk."

"I think that we can talk a little later. This doesn't really seem like a good time to make friends considering where we are." I told him as he came to my side. Together we stared at the huge metal spikes that jutted out from the ground. All the times I played Mass Effect they never felt like they loomed over me. Maybe I never paid them the attention they deserved for being such evil monstrosities that decorated Eden Prime. "Maybe this conversation can wait till we aren't staring death in the face, okay Jenkins?"

"Bo! Keep moving!" Garrus shouted from up ahead. I fidgeted with the Vindicator and I pulled my eyes away from the dragon's teeth. I hated the way coming to terms with reality felt.

"You sure you're Alliance?" Jenkins asked as we caught up to everyone again. "I've never known someone that's enlisted to wear something so… purple."

"You can't just walk in silence can you? I know it might be a totally new concept, but some of us don't want to be shot at because you can't keep your mouth shut."

"Can you blame a guy for wanting to make small talk? I just rescued a girl from a horrible death. It's like something you see in the vids where the guy gets the chick in the end." Jenkins smiled at me as I tried to ignore his comments.

"You need to lay off the bad movies and come back to reality. Besides, I could have handled the husks."

"Yeah, it looked like you could have. From what I saw, you were flat on your back and getting your ass handed to you."

"I was managing a hostile situation the best I could! Give me a damn break!"

"Alright!" Jenkins put one hand in the air. "And you did a damn fine job, happy now?"

"Just drop it."

"Can I ask one more question?"

"What?" I growled.

"Why didn't you use your biotics?"

"Does it matter? I didn't use them, and you didn't even know I had them until Kaidan opened his big, fat mouth."

"But you could have just blown them back like it was nothing? Instead you ended up pinned and in trouble. If I wouldn't have come along to save you…"

"Then I would have bashed their heads on a rock!" I screamed at him in hopes of ending the debate. "Are you done with these stupid questions yet?" Jenkins faced forward and I rolled my eyes as quiet tension radiated between us.

"Hey Amber?" I groaned as I heard him say my name again just a few short minutes later.

"What now?"

"Purple is a great color on you."

"Jebus on a krogan, Jenk-" The sound of gunfire stopped my train of thought as the marine shoved me into cover behind a rock. We both checked our weapons and looked to one another.

"Contact!" Kaidan yelled from twenty yards in front of us.

"You think, Alenko?" Jenkins shouted back to him and smiled at me. "You ready for this, Bo?"

"Why do you people insist on doing that to my damn name?"

"How bad is it, sir?" Jenkins called back to the team ahead of us. This sucked. I refused to be stuck behind some rock with a guy who gave me the creeps. I decided to move and spun around his front and out of cover. I gave him a coy smile.

"You two just hang back! It's only a few husks and—rocket launcher!" Kaidan screamed just as I saw something headed straight for me. I froze like a deer in headlights.

"Shi-"

"Bo!" I felt something knock me out of the way as I heard Jenkins howl. I closed my eyes on impact and opened them as my face came into contact with the ground below me. Smoke and dust blurred my vision as I rolled to my side.

"Jenkins!" I cried as I made out his figure sprawled out on the ground with no signs of life. "No! Not because of me!" Everything moved in slow motion. Kaidan and Wrex both yelled to me, but the words ended up lost between the sounds of gunfire and the ringing in my ears. My arms found the ground and I pushed myself back onto my feet in order to get to Jenkins. I grabbed onto him and pulled with everything in me to get us out of the line of fire.

"Bo! Everything okay?" Garrus yelled to me as things sped back up.

"Jenkins…He's out.. I need to..." I looked down at the marine and pressed the button on his armor to dispense the medi-gel. "He's not breathing!" I screeched before I assessed the situation. I spent four years as a lifeguard at a local pool and knew basic lifesaving procedures. I needed to give him mouth to mouth. "I can do this. He's gross and smells like hot sweaty boy but..." I pinched his nose and pressed my mouth against his. As my breath left me I felt gloved fingers pressed against the back of my neck and a tongue pressed against my own. I drew back to see two brown eyes look up at me and a smile on Jenkins's face.

"And… I thought you didn't… like me." He forced out between ragged breaths.

"Oh gods… Oh… Oh gods!" I gasped as I moved away from him. "What the hell did you just do?"

"It's okay, I saved your life. It's only natural that you would want to make it up to me somehow... Maybe not in the middle of a fire fight next time." He winced in pain as he rolled off his back and onto his side.

"You stupid jerk!" I flinched at the sound of another rocket. "I didn't kiss you, you kissed me!"

"Bo! Is he okay?" Kaidan shouted to me as stared at Jenkins in shock.

"Oh this jackass is just flippin peachy!" I got back to my feet and gave him another glare. "Just flipping peachy..." I didn't know what else to say as I left him in cover and made my way to the team. I needed to kill something, anything, to take my mind of what the idiot just did.

"Glad you could make it." Wrex reloaded his shotgun as he stood on a corpse of a husk. I guessed I missed the fight, much to my disappointment.

"I was too busy trying to save Lord Moron-ovich." I nod my head back over my shoulder.

"What happened?" Kaidan looked up from checking his weapon with a scowl.

"It's my fault." Jenkins's voice came from behind me. I turned to face the marine and noticed his weight only on his left leg.

"Jenkins, what happened back there?" Kaidan rushed over to him.

"I tried to dance with a rocket, I should have known better. Amber pulled my ass to cover and saved me."

"I did what?"

"Way to go, Bo." Wrex chuckled.

"Shut it, Wrexy."

"We should keep going. The beacon is just up ahead and Jenkins is going to need someone to look at him." Kaidan spoke while wrapped his arm around the injured marine.

I took a position next to Wrex with my Vindicator in hand, and matched his swagger as we made our way to the beacon. I didn't pay attention to the two men behind us. I wanted to forget the fact the Jenkins kissed me, and I just yelled at him rather than punched him in the face. Maybe the recent interaction with Dylan made me question things, and I wanted the attention… Wait, what did I just say?

"Bo, did you hear me?" Garrus asked from behind me.

"What?" I turned to face him as our party came to a stop.

"Did you hear anything we were talking about?"

"No, I was thinking."

"I'd call it daydreaming." Wrex grumbled.

"I was thinking! Now what do you want?" I shifted my weight foot to foot, my mind still on thoughts of Jenkins and Dylan.

"What's on your mind, Bo?" Garrus asked. "You're distracted more than usual."

"Let's just get to the beacon, and I'll worry about personal crap later." I looked ahead to see a figure in green armor with his hands in the air.

"Aaaaaam-beeeeeeer!" Adam waved. "You didn't get yourself killed!" I smiled at the sound of his voice as I sprinted over to him.

"You're one to talk! I thought for sure Javik would have tossed you off a cliff or something on the way here."

"Nah, I threatened to shove me out of the shuttle mid-flight, but Liara told me that was normal for him."

"He does have a knack for it."

"Besides, I've been dealing with your grouchy ass for twenty years and I still ain't scared of waking you up. That critter is a walk in the park compared to the horror that my sister is in the morning."

"I do have my morning attitude down to a science." I turned my head to check on the rest of my team when Adam grabbed my chin.

"What the hell happened to your face?" He tried to trace his finger along the healing gash before I jerked away from him.

"I'm fine."

"Looks like it. I knew I should have taken that bet with Dylan before y'all left. You going to tell me just what in the hell happened?"

"It was a husk, and now its compost. Don't worry about it."

"You probably freaked the hell out and got yourself in trouble." Adam laughed as he yelled like a girl and stuck his hands in the air to mimic me. "Help me, help me! It's a creepy blue zambie with tubes coming out of its face! Help me!"

"Adam!" I smacked his shoulder. "Cut that crap out."

"Come on, you've got to see the prothean dude I dug up."

"Don't you mean that y'all dug up?"

"Tomato, potato… Same thing." He gave a quick shrug of his shoulders before he grabbed my hand to drag me along beside him.

I glanced over my shoulder to check on the rest of my team before I gave into Adam. I wanted to see Dylan and make sure the three of us noobs came through the mission unscathed. After we made it up the stairs, my brother rushed over to see Javik as I accounted for everyone that came with us.

"Babe!" He left Ashley in mid conversation and made his way over to me. "You made it!" He wrapped his arms around me and gave me chance to breathe him in again. Thoughts of Jenkins crept into my head as we broke from one another.

"Y'all act like I can't handle a few robots and creepy husks." I brushed my matted bangs out from in front of my face as Dylan took notice of the red in my hair.

"What happened here?" He touched where the gash once was.

"It's just dried blood. It's nothing."

"You were hurt?"

"It's nothing, Jenkins killed the thing, and I'm fine."

"Did you say Jenkins?" A confused expression came across Dylan's face.

"Yeah, about that…" I looked over my shoulder, "He's um… not dead." I wanted to tell him what happened while we fought our way here, but decided it might not be the best time.

"He's supposed to die ten minutes into the game, how the hell is he even alive?" Dylan's eyes widened as he spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Damned if I know. He's annoying as hell and he already…" I trailed off.

"He already what?" Dylan raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "What did I miss?"

"I saved her life. Bo, who is this?" Jenkins made it up to the platform with the assistance of Kaidan and now stared at the two of us in confusion.

"I'm Dylan her boyfriend." He looked at the marine and then back to me.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Um, yeah…" I stammered, "Dylan, this is Jenkins and Alenko, this is Dylan. I need to um… To check on Adam." I felt myself blush as I headed in the direction of my brother. I didn't want to hear the awkward conversation that Dylan prepared to go through with Jenkins, and took the opportunity to bow out before I ended up stuck for it.

"Adam I…" I waited as he held up his hand to silence me. I blinked in disbelief as my eyes found Javik. He towered over the two of us, and even in his weakened state seemed like a biotic powerhouse.

"Go head, Jar- Jar Binks, what were you saying before she so rudely interrupted?"

"Human, you are truly beginning to make me question the evolutionary process of this cycle."

"You make me question the evolution of a spider. I think you might be related havin all them creepy eyes."

"Adam, please don't piss off the prothean." I whispered in my brother's ear as I stood next to him.

"This dude? Nah, he's my boy." My brother grinned at me as Javik looked me over. "Ain't cha, Java?"

"You are kin with this one?" Javik looks at me as he points to Adam.

"He's my brother but that's about as far as it goes." I tilt my head to the side and looked up at his yellow eyes. "I can't believe it's really you."

"As opposed to whom?"

"I uh… well… You don't see many protheans in this time." I rubbed the back of my neck and turned to see Shepard speaking with Liara.

"I imagine that you don't see many protheans at all."

"Suppose you're right." I really am awful at first impressions.

"Ms. Boeshanz." Liara tapped my shoulder and nodded her head. "May I speak with you for a moment? Shepard and I would value your input on a few ideas."

"Sure…" I take a moment longer to stare at Javik before I followed her. "What's on your mind?"

"Shepard already has the vision and the cipher, the working beacon can transmit the vision to another person. We are discussing the available options."

"Alright, I guess there's no point in giving it to Jane a second time, not to mention the fact that it almost killed her."

"If someone doesn't go through this, there is no telling how much of the future will be altered. This still has to happen." Liara stood beside me as we met with Jane.

"Okay, but it almost killed Shepard and I'm not sure any of us could handle it."

"Liara, you seem to have a fetish for this kind of thing, why don't you take it?" I looked at her. "It's not going to do anyone else any good."

"I do not believe that would be for the best. Perhaps Ashley or Kaidan would make a better candidate."

"Look, for all I care we can blow the thing up. Just pick someone." I turned to see my brother hold out the Wii remote to the beacon and start to push buttons. "But make a decision before something else happens that we didn't take into consideration."

"Amber, perhaps you should take the vision." The very utterance of those words made me look at Liara. Her big doe eyes glistened as she grabbed my full attention. "Your mind isn't from this time, and it may be best suited for something such as this."

"No, and when I say no, I mean hell no. I don't need the creepy reaper flashes in my damn head." I turned to check on Adam again and see he managed to get a few steps closer to the beacon. I snapped my fingers to get his attention and watched as he looked over to me. "Get away from there." I muttered through my clenched teeth.

"Bacon…" He mouthed at me. He took another step towards the beacon and shook the remote.

"No." I mouthed back to him as I shook my head. The others around me continued to debate, oblivious to my idiot brother's antics.

"Yes!" He made an over exaggerated nod as he stepped closer.

"Amber," Liara tapped my shoulder and regained my attention. "Is there a possibility that your mind could use the information in another manner? Maybe it would react with the information from this time and provide us more information on how we are reliving this nightmare again."

"I agree, Amber. You might just be the key to-" Jane spun in mid-sentence as Adam started to screech from behind us.

"Adam!" I lunged for my brother who activated the beacon. Two arms came around my middle and held me in place. "No! Not him! It will kill him!" My brother floated in the air, wrapped in green light and I watched unable to do anything to stop it.

"It's too late!" Shepard yelled in my ear as I tried to fight her off. "You can't touch him, Amber! You know how this happens, you've seen it!"

"Let me go! Let me go, damn it!" She released me just as Adam fell to the ground.

"Adam!" I toppled over my feet to get to him. "No, god no!" Liara's words resonated in my head, that a lesser mind would be demolished by the information contained in the beacon. I kneeled beside him and looked at his pale face. "Someone do something!" I looked up to see dozens of eyes, but no one moved.

"Amber, he's going to be okay." Dylan peeked around Ashley.

"You don't know that!" I screamed at him. "He's not Shepard, he's… he's…"

"Get him on the shuttle and back on the Normandy. He needs medical attention." Jane tapped her omni-tool while I scooped his head into my lap.

"Come on, Adam. Just hold on. Please just hold on."

* * *

I listened to the ping of my brother's heartbeat on the graphic interface. I lost count of the hours since we left Eden Prime, too consumed in my brother's well-being to notice anything else around me. Each note that resonated from the machine echoed in my ears and made my heart ache.

I shifted on the stool that I procured from Chakwas after I stood next to his bed and refused to leave him. The stool rolled with me to the foot of the bed where I bent over and placed my head near his knees. I grabbed the blanket that covered him and pulled it to my face to cover the tears that rolled down my cheek. I just wanted to hear his voice, to see him hold up the stupid Wii remote to something and click the buttons.

"Ms. Boeshanz, I've finished reviewing the scans we've taken of your brother." Dr. Chakwas came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Shepard should be here in just a moment and we can go over what we've found."

"Just say he's going to wake up." I heard the fear in my words. I needed him.

"We can't be sure. When Jane received the vision there was a chance that she would never regain consciousness. Your brother and her are entirely different people."

"Liara said a lesser mind, Doc. I don't think you get worse than Adam." I rubbed my brother's shin before I pushed away from the bed. "He has the IQ of mayo."

"You might be surprised at the ability of the human mind to cope with trauma." She laid the data pad at his feet.

"Amber." The door of med-bay whirred open and revealed Jane. She looked disheveled for someone that appeared so composed in the heat of a battle.

"Jane."

"Commander," Chakwas chimed in, "I suppose with you here I can tell you the results of the scans we've compiled for Mr. Boeshanz." We both watched as the doctor stayed stoic. "It appears that he is going through the same experience as you, but we can't discern if there was irreparable damage done till his mind until he wakes."

"Meaning that he will be out for days." I faced Adam and sighed. "So until then it's a waiting game."

"Amber, why don't you go change?" Jane put her hand on my shoulder. "Take some time to deal with everything and get some rest."

"I rested for a week when I got here." I brushed her hand off of me. "I'm not leaving here until I see his eyes open."

"Then consider it an order." The tone of her voice changed. "You have a duty to this ship and it's crew. Staying in here isn't doing anyone a favor, not even Adam."

"Screw your orders, I have a duty to my brother!" I snapped back at her and stood up. "You think I'm leaving him, you have another thing coming."

"I'm not doing this with you, Bo." Jane stuck her finger in my face and snarled. "It's an order. Now get the hell out of med-bay and calm your ass down. You're tired, and need a break."

"No." I pushed her hand from in front of my face, "He might just be someone else that you can use and throw away like you did Garrus, but he's my damn brother."

"Is that what this is? You think I'm using him?"

"Oh come on Jane, let's look at the obvious. Adam's as dumb as a box of rocks and you went from Garrus to him in the blink of an eye. You don't think something is just a little off there?"

"My relationship with Garrus is none of your concern."

"But the one you have with my brother is!" I yelled. "He shouldn't have been down there. I don't need you trying to get his dumb ass killed because you want eye candy to stare at on the ride home!"

"What did you just say?"

"I didn't stutter."

"This isn't the time or place to get into this with you." Jane clicked her omni-tool, "Wrex, come get your recruit before I give her a lesson in biotics my damn self."

"On my way, Shepard." His voice called back.

"You called Wrex to come and take care of me? Can't do it your damn self?" I folded my arms over my chest. "Figures that my brother would find another girl that can't stand up for herself."

"You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?"

"And you don't know how to keep your legs closed." I quipped.

Jane remained motionless for a moment as she let the words sink in. I waited for her to dash across the room to put her hands on me only to be met with an awkward silence. While Jane exercised her self-control, I threw mine out the airlock.

"If you're smart, you'll leave before he gets here, but based on this conversation, I'm betting you rather stay and work things out with me… One on one."

"Damn skippy, I would." I stepped away from my brother's bedside and rolled my neck. I felt adrenaline course through my veins as I glared at her.

"Last chance to back down."

"I'm a Boeshanz, do you really see that happening?" I grinned as she cracked her knuckles.

"I was hoping you would say that." Jane let her biotics spill into her hands before she launched herself at me.

I screamed as my back landed into the counter along the back wall. My armor cushioned the blow and gave me a chance to grab onto the collar of her uniform. Together we spun as the instruments on the counter fell to the floor with each spin we made.

"Bo!" I heard a familiar voice that made me turn to see Wrex come through the door. It gave Shepard just the opportunity she needed to get out of my hands.

"Wrex, I..." A flash of blue and a copious amount of pain spilled over me as Jane's fist connected with my face. I stumbled backwards and hit my knees. I looked up to see her hand smack into me for the second time. I bent over and placed my hands on the floor.

"Should have followed my orders, Amber." Jane's voice sang to me as I felt the final blow land against my face, and everything faded to black.

**_A/N- Thanks to all of you who have been so patient with me getting this chapter up! With vacation and school I just needed way longer than I expected to get it done. Thanks again for all the time y'all take in reading! Special shout out to TheRev28, without you this story would not be so epic! XOXO- Bronzey_**


	5. You Can't Ames for Jack

**Chapter 5: You Can't Ames for Jack**

The worst fight I can remember having in my life was with my brother Adam. We were on a school bus on our way home in the Texas heat, when he decided to swing at me over some name I called him in front of everyone. At this point time I stood a good foot over him, so it wasn't even a fair fight. He ended up with a broken nose and black eye, while I ended up grounded for a month. It's a funny thing when I look back at the argument with him, it was all for nothing. Nothing was gained from it, kind of how it happened with Jane. Bad attitudes and passion for the things we hold dear in life will try to blind us, and sometimes will end up costing us a concussion.

* * *

I don't remember which came first, the persistent throb of my brain trying to escape my skull, or the smell of antiseptic and lavender. I blinked at the fixtures that hung over me, trying to understand just how in the hell I ended up in a bed in medical bay. I rubbed my hands over my eyes when everything clicked in to place; I fought with Jane Shepard and lost.

At that point, my head started to mimic the beat of my own heart, each thud making me wince in pain. I ran my hands over my face as I sat up, and noted my lack of fluorescent purple armor. A tight black shirt clung to my every curve and was matched with looked like red gym shorts.

"Gym shorts?" I questioned as I threw the blanket off of my legs. "Who got me naked when I wasn't looking?"

"Amber?"

"Ames?" I felt my voice catch in my throat as I turned to see a silhouette beside the bed. Of all the people I expected to see when I woke, she didn't cross my mind. "Baby girl, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Lisse." She cooed the name she called me when just the two of us. "I needed to talk to you about a few things. I told Dylan to go take a shower, and have been sitting here keeping you company until you woke up." She wiped under her eyes in an attempt to remove the evidence of any tears she cried while I slept.

"Oh gods… You're crying. Why are you crying?" I felt a pang in my chest as I remembered the way Adam looked the last time I saw him. "Where is my brother? Ames, where is Adam?" I spun in the bed, but had to pause from the persistent twinge at the front of my head.

"Adam?" Amiee glanced at the bed and back at me. "He's with Shepard. He woke up hours ago and said that we should "let you sleep off the attitude" or something. Once Chakwas confirmed that you just had a slight concussion, he was gone."

"Figures." I rubbed my forehead, and said a silent prayer for my brain to go numb to pain. "My brother, the self preserving jackass."

"Lisse?"

"What?" I dropped my hand back to my side and tried to focus my thoughts on something else. "I'm fine, Ames. What's with you and the look?"

"You're the one that decided to have a row with Shepard, and you want to know what's with me? Have you gone mad?" Amiee raked her fingers through her hair and scowled at me. "I know that you are one to think with your fists and brute strength, but really, Lisse, the woman was just trying to help you."

"I know. I screwed the pooch on that one." I chuckled as Amiee flinched at the saying. "Don't take that literally. It means I messed up big time. Please don't think that I meant… Just ew… Stop that whole train of thought."

"Sometimes I'm inclined to wonder. You've evidently spent too much time with Adam if that has become part of your normal vocabulary." Amiee forced a smile through her sniffles. "You and him certainly are a pair."

"We're something, that's for sure, and you'll never see me sitting on a bed crying over an undead Adam." I brushed my bangs out of the way and peered at her. "Which now that I say it out loud, makes absolutely no sense? Why are you crying?" I felt my forehead crease as she started to tear up again.

"Lisse, I messed up. Everything is so messed up, and it's all my fault for being so reckless." She took a deep breath and averted her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Wait, wait, wait. I know that I've had issues adjusting to everything here, and you and I haven't talked much… But why are you apologizing about the MMA match Jane and I decided to have here in medical bay? This one is all me… as per the usual." I motioned for Amiee to come sit on the bed next to me while I continued to gather my bearings. "This isn't like you to cry. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen you so emotional over me trying to beat someone up."

"This doesn't have anything to do with your antics. This is something far worse than a little squabble with Jane." I watched as she lifted herself onto the gurney beside me and placed her hands against her face. Sobs poured from her as she muttered incoherent words to me.

"Hey," I sang to her as my hand rested on her back. "You're freaking me out a little, woman. What's managed to get you so worked up that you can't even make sense? You're the most articulate person I know." I paused for a response, but was met with more of her sobs. "Did someone hurt you? You know I'll beat the hell out of them… Just tell me it was Lucas. That little brat has it coming for the stunt he pulled with my damn armor. I'm pretty sure that these are his gym shorts… Little bastard always tries to get me naked."

"No…" Amiee whispered as she broke the pattern of tears. "No, I've just been thinking about the future and where my place is with everything that's going to happen. I was given some information after we cleared medical with Chakwas, and needed some time to let it all digest."

"Okay." I traced small circles over her shoulders and smiled at her. "And she found something and cured it? Or was it more like the reality of it all settling in? Come on. What's on your mind?"

"I thought that she made a mistake. There wasn't a possible way that I had made such an error with anyone, especially not with him. We were careful. I swear we were careful, Amber."

"Careful with what?" I looked at Amiee, confusion written on my face as she continued to speak about protection and methods. Everything drowned out by the realization of what she just told me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… Are you telling me that you're knocked up?"

"Do you have to say it so plainly?" Tears filled her eyes again as she nodded her head. "I'm going to be a mother in about seven months."

"Oh, baby girl. It's okay. I always wanted to see how I could handle being an aunt. Granted the timing might be a little off, but we can deal with that." I smiled at her as she started to cry again. "Ames, you're going to be a great parent. Really, don't worry about it so much."

"It's not the being a parent part that has me royally messed up. It's who the father is."

"Ugh, you mean Ryan?" I winced at the name as I heard it for the first time since I found out his fate back in 2013. "I'm sorry that your kid won't know him, but there's not a lot we can do about that now. Besides, he would have been in jail for years after the party."

"Four years. He was in jail for four years." Amiee looked at me. "Ryan was set free and able to make an impact on history based on you."

"Me?" I stammered. "What the hell does that mean?"

"From what I've read he became obsessed with the biomedical field. Persistent and damn near crazy. He founded a new corporation and created all sorts of patents, stealing work from Casey Hudson's team that was given limited technology before we left."

"Great. I somehow managed to create a mad man that knew Shepard would eventually exist. Of course I would be the one to screw up the future." I groaned and drug my hands over my face. "Can't say I saw that one coming."

"It's so much worse, Lisse." Her eyes met mine. "I need to tell you the rest."

"There's more?" I raised one eyebrow. "How much more?"

"After Ryan was released from jail he went on to have a family and get married. That family… That family…" She took a deep breath.

"Ames, it's okay. Just take your time."

"His wife gave birth to a beautiful little girl. She was something special and given the best formal education. She grew up and found herself a husband. Soon after they had a son named Jack."

"So I'm guessing Jack is alive today, and you have his Uncle… Or half uncle. That's not going to be awkward when you meet him. Wait, are you going to meet him?" I smile at her. "Of course you are. You always wanted a family, and the stigma of Ryan is all but a distant memory here."

"Amber, it's not that simple. I don't… I don't know how to tell you this." Amiee closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip.

"I'm missing something here. Okay, if you don't break it down for the blonde, I'm never going to get it."

"Jack's last name is Harper." She turned her head to let our eyes meet. "His name is Jack Harper."

"That's a good strong name. I'm sure that it shouldn't be a problem locating him on the extranet. Have you-"

"Amber!" Amiee screamed as she put her hand on my thigh. "Jack… Harper."

"Like the one that gets locked up in cryo? I thought you said that it was a boy? And I thought her name was Jennifer?" I froze as my brain decided to place the name. "Oh gods…"

"Yes." Amiee nodded her head and again started to sob. "My child is related to The Illusive Man."

"Which is why I should have killed that damn pilot when I had the chance." Jane glared at me as she walked through the doors of medical bay. "We need to talk, Bo."

I winced as my nickname clung to the air. I felt the room lower in temperature as Jane gave me the coldest look I ever saw. An apology seemed like the right thing to do, but this woman still looked like she wanted to knock me out again. Great….

"I suppose we do." I patted Amiee on the back and whispered to her. "Ames, everything will be fine. Just because it's related to evil, doesn't mean it is evil."

"I know." Amiee didn't take her eyes off Shepard as scooted off the edge of the bed and walked to the door to leave me alone with the commander.

"Ames!" I called after her as she stepped out the door. "I love you, sis."

"Love you too… Maybe later we can finish this?" Amiee wipes the tears from her eyes as she attempted to pull herself together.

"Sure thing, baby girl. Just let me deal with Commander Concussion here and I'll catch up with you." As Amiee left, Jane positioned herself in front of me. She folded her arms across her Alliance uniform and glared. "What's up, Jane? You here to tell me something that I missed during our last conversation?"

"You have an attitude problem." Jane took a step forward. "And this time it cost you a concussion. Had this happened on Prime it could have cost you your life."

"Hey, I didn't ask for the concussion, you gave it to me with a side of migraine. I assumed it was your way of telling me I did such a great job, like a bonus or something." I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. "For future reference, you can keep your bonuses. They suck."

"I want to know why you are being a pain in my ass." Jane pulled up a rolling stool and looked up at me.

"You told me to leave my brother. Do you get that? He's my family and you dismissed me like I didn't belong. Well new flash, honey, this is my family. I don't have anywhere else to be." I heard the anger boil up in me all over again. Everything about my attitude sent up red flags like warnings that I didn't see. "Look," I sighed, "You rubbed me the wrong way. It just happened. I'm sorry."

"That's your excuse?" Jane raised one eyebrow.

"It's not an excuse. I shouldn't have done it, you were trying to help, and I screwed it up." I dropped my hand back to my side and looked over at Jane. "I don't make a habit of fighting my brother's girlfriends."

"Apology accepted." Jane smirked as she adjusted herself on the stool. "I wouldn't have left my family either."

"That is the worst apology I've ever heard." I tried to stand up. My feet almost felt foreign underneath me, which made my legs shake. "If that was an apology."

"It wasn't." Her voice remained flat as she watched me take a few steps. "It's an admission of fault. Not the same thing."

"Totally the same thing." I bounced in place a few times, feeling more like myself than I had when I woke up.

Okay, so Amiee is knocked up, and Shepard is being weird. I never would have taken her to come in and give me some half assed apology. Then again, my Shepard isn't really paragon…

"We need to talk about the reaction you received from Alenko." Jane reached down and tapped her omni-tool. "I had to explain to him why he knew your name."

"Yeah, that was the most awkward thing ever. He knew I was a biotic. I've seen a lot of weird things, but I don't remember there being anything about psychics here in the future." I tilted my head to the side, and ran my fingers through a few of the long blonde strands that fell from my ponytail.

"Amber Boeshanz, born October 7th, 1989 in Austin, Texas at 1:36 in the afternoon to Penny and Randy Boeshanz. She was a college student…. This is all boring…. Ah, here. First human biotic with unmatched biotic potential, killed in action by the stupid pilot back in the year 2013." Jane closed her omni-tool. "You are the first human biotic on record."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… That's a hell of a bomb to drop on a girl with a concussion." I felt my heart rate elevate as my head started to bang again.

"It seems as though our friend Casey took the liberty of adding your name to the history books. Being that he founded some of the Alliance systems, most of his information was all uploaded to the databases. Now that we are here, you were flagged as alive when we jumped in time."

"What does that mean?" I watched her stand up and put a hand on my shoulder.

"It means that certain people have taken note of your recent arrival." Jane started for the door. "You have a few places to be once we dock at the Citadel. I am taking Dylan and Ashley with me to see the council."

"And I'm doing what exactly?" I jogged to meet up with her. "There are things on the Citadel that I am not going to understand. I get lost on the damn ship, and you want to turn me loose where aliens roam freely?"

"You're going to have an escort, Bo." She gave a wry smile. "Jenkins has already volunteered to show you around."

"What?" I felt all the emotion drain from my voice. "You're not serious."

"Dead serious. He's been begging me to see you since we came back on board. I had his orders transferred to us. You should go meet your new body guard before we land." Jane gave me a small wave as she left me outside medical bay.

"You're making me… but he… and then he…" I felt my stomach drop as I recalled the stolen kiss Jenkins took back on Prime. I needed to talk to Dylan, and tell him what happened between the two of us before I ended up in more trouble.

* * *

I didn't remember sitting down in the mess. I blamed on the concussion that seemed to continue to make my brain feel as though it needed escape through the front of my forehead.

"Stupid brain." I laid my head on the table and closed my eyes. "Just stop with the aching, and I won't make you think about things… Lots of things…"

"Well look who we have sitting here all by herself in the middle of the mess hall."

"Lucas…" I growled his name as he sat down across from me. "What, in the name of all that is holy, do you want?"

"Just checking on you. I am part of the medical staff here, kind of my job to make sure you aren't drooling on the table." He chuckled at me as I wiped my chin.

"I'm just tired… If I had it in me I would punch you in your face for the stunt you pulled with my armor."

"Hey now, I did that with you in mind." He leaned back a bit with a faux look of repulsion on his face. "I think I'm hurt."

"I don't even know what you are going on about, Lucas." I matched his position at the table. "It was you, being a smart ass, and trying to get me shot."

"It was me picking out the colors for your armor based on your favorite pair of running shoes that you used to leave by your front door. I tripped over those damn things I don't know how many times coming over to see you." He softened a bit, leaning on the table to get closer to me. "It was something that always stood out to me, and for once I can say I wasn't being some callus asshole."

"I um… I don't know what to say to that. It was ages ago, and I thought you and I would never…" I swallowed and looked away. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I just couldn't…"

"Yeah, I'm not a moron. It wasn't meant to be, and you found Dylan. I get it, but it doesn't mean that I forgot about you. I moved on, you moved on." He ran his fingers in a circle on the top of the table. "I sure as hell didn't think we would end up here together."

"We aren't together." I felt myself smile at him as I remembered the months we spent together. A mix of horrible fighting and passionate… well, that needn't be said.

"Not anymore, and we had good reasons for it. Still, can't help but wonder why you were brought back to me."

"I wasn't brought back to you." I glared at him across the table. "I am here, and I am here with Dylan. Let's make this clear right now."

"You're here, but you aren't with Dylan. Where is Prince Charming right now anyway? Oh," he snaps his fingers. "That's right. He's down in the training bay getting all hot and sweaty with Williams."

"They work well together." I shrug as I tried to keep my emotions out of it. "Kinda like I do with Wrexy."

"Sure, it's totally the same thing." Lucas rolled his eyes. "You've seen the way she is around him, are you honestly that blind?"

"I'm not blind, eskimo brain! I'm just not thinking about it." I slammed my hand against the table. "So shut your mouth before I punch you in it!"

"Fine, I'll drop it. So tell me about Jenkins. I heard from him that you are one hell of a kisser." Lucas pulled back from the table, and waited for me to respond. I felt the blood drain from my face. How in the hell did he find out about the moment on Prime? Jenkins…

"That is not how that happened and you know it." I snapped at him. "I'm not that kinda girl."

"Not what I was told. Evidently you were so enraptured by his good looks and dashing personality you couldn't help yourself."

"Ew! When have you known me to give into something like that, Lucas?" I leaned forward against the table as I tried to keep my voice low.

"It happens. I remember a few times that you caved like that when it was just the two of us. Remember the time after you took that exam and were all pent up and frustrated? I think it was something about warm water and cold-"

"Finish that thought and I swear…"

"You swear what?" Dylan interrupted. I didn't know what to say as he folded his arms over his chest and scowled at me. "You… and him?" He pointed at Lucas. "Another lie? Another lie about something, Amber?"

"Dyl, this isn't… I dated him when I was younger and it didn't work…" I stood up and grabbed for his arm.

He jerked away from me. "I keep going through this with you, and you keep lying, leaving key things out. I thought he was just some perv… and then there are the rumors about you and Jenkins…"

"Nothing happened with Jenkins, Dylan!" I reached for him again to have him pull away.

"So you didn't kiss him?" His voice sent chills down my spine.

"I did, but it wasn't on purpose."

"Right… Well… I should go…" He didn't hesitate as he made a beeline for the elevator.

"Dylan!" I yelled as I followed after him. "It's not what it sounds like!"

"Of course not. It never is with you, is it?" Dylan stopped outside the huge metal doors that enclosed his escape from me. "I just… I can't do this. I can't do us if this is going to keep happening."

"What does that mean?" I wrapped my arms around my waist. "What does that mean, Dylan?"

"It means that for now… I don't know… I just can't be around you. Just give me some space and maybe I can figure this all out."

"Figure this out?" I forced the tears back.

"I just don't think either one of us needs this drama. You seem to have issues with the truth, and I'm making a new name for myself with everything that's happened so far. Let's just call it a break." Dylan turns for the elevator. "Better for both of us that way."

"I…" I didn't get a chance to say anything else as he slipped away from me. Alone… I was alone.

**_This chapter took forever, and the only reason I posted it was because I was asked for it, LOL. I've been tangled up in school, and hopefully will find a regular posting schedule again soon. Love you Ames!_**


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